Girl On The Move
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: Courtney's mom is always packing up and moving out. Courtney doesn't know what it's like to live in a place for more than a few months at a time. Can a certain hated, green-haired delinquent help her find a permanent home at last?
1. Chapter 1

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter One**

I sighed as I took one last look around the empty room. It looked so bare to what it had looked like the day before. There was no longer any furniture, not even any cardboard boxes left by now. The walls were still bright pink, and the carpet was still as bouncy under my feet as before. It hadn't even had time to wear down yet.

We had only stopped at this house for three weeks. Three weeks! It wasn't the shortest time we had ever stayed in one place, but it was certainly quite a short stop. We usually stayed for at least four.

I guess I've just gotten used to the idea of moving now. I've been doing it since I was...Well, ever since I can remember. Settling down in one place for more than a few months seemed impossible to me. I have never had a sense of home, whatever that might be. The longest I've ever stayed in one place was six months, and that was only because my sister had been born during that time. And that was eight years ago! Ever since then, the longest we had ever stayed in one place was three months. Twelve whole weeks in one place had felt like a dream to me. And then we moved again...

I guess I'm just used to the routine by now. I don't even know why we even bother to unpack. It's not like we're ever going stay long enough to use everything we do take from the boxes. I find it stupid and pointless.

"Courtney, come one!" My mother called from the kitchen. At least it had once been a kitchen, now it was a bare space with just a sink, fridge and some empty cabinets.

"I'm coming!" I called back, sighing once again.

My mother was the reason we kept on moving. She claimed it was for her job, which I guess you could pass it off as. But I think the main reason is she can't find a decent boyfriend. Every time she gets dumped we move again. Moving as a whole was stupid and pointless, but moving for the reason she did just made it even more so. We'd only ever gotten into an argument over it once, that was when I was twelve and started to finally understand why we did it so much. I knew it wasn't the normal thing to do, if I ever made a new friend at school they were always shocked at the countless towns, cities and states I had lived in. It was ridiculous.

I picked myself up off the floor for the last time. I walked over to the door, taking one last look before I shut it behind me. I would probably never come back to Portland, Maine again. I liked to savor every moment of it before we left.

"So, where we off to this time?" I asked, climbing into the passenger seat of the car. My mother was already in the driver's seat and Casey, my younger sister, was playing on her Nintendo in the back. Eight years old and addicted to the blessed thing.

"We, Courtney Madison, are off to..." She always did this. Used my middle name AND trailed off. I hated it. "MANHATTAN!"

"YAY!" Casey called from the back, but I ignored her. She was still too young to understand the reasons. All she knew this time was that we would never be seeing Derick again. Not that I had particularly liked him, he was the type who broke hearts wherever he went. My mom hadn't seen that one until it was too late.

"Manhattan?" I asked. "Haven't we already been there? You're slipping mom..." I teased, leaning my head against the passenger seat window. Not that I remembered the last time we had been in Manhattan, but I knew we had been there at least once before, it was on the list.

"So?" My mom replied, giving my leg a little push with her hand. "Manhattan's a big place, Court, and you will just LOVE the new apartment I got us."

"Lucky me..." I mumbled, snuggling my head into the glass as if it was a pillow. I knew it was going to be one long, agonizing drive. I might as well have tried to catch some sleep. And I did manage to get a few minutes rest, but Casey had her DS volume up high and my mom had the stereo blasting. There wasn't a lot of chance to catch some shuteye with all the commotion that came with the long drives. This one was almost 6 hours long, making stops in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut before we finally arrived in New York.

I was used to the moving process by now. My mom drove, Casey played her DS and I would do _anything_ to take my mind off the journey. I didn't have motion sickness or anything like that; I just always found the journeys to our new place to be...Awkward. There was never much to talk about in our small family. Even less so on moving day.

I was grateful when we arrived on our new block. The car came to a halt and I went flying forward, placing my hands out to stop myself from crashing through the front window. My mom's seatbelts did not do a good job at what they were designed to do. In fact, the whole car was falling apart, but she refused to part with it, said it still did what it was supposed to do and that was all we needed.

"We're here!" My mom smiled. I rolled my eyes and Casey cheered from the back seat. She was eight years old but barely four foot tall. She was still in a booster seat. A bright pink booster seat that I really wanted to take a hammer and blowtorch to.

The three of us all clambered out of the small vehicle as the moving van pulled up behind us. My mom smiled as she stared up wards at the block of apartments in front of us. They weren't exactly anything to smile about. Some could have been in a better condition and others needed to be torn down completed, but they were usable for the few short weeks I knew we were going to be there for.

"See that one?" She pointed to one of the middle windows and I nodded, "That's our new home." I rolled my eyes again. The meaning of home is 'the place in which one's domestic affections are centered.' This was not my home. I hadn't even set foot in it, let alone centered my 'domestic affections' there. This was just an apartment where I would be living until mom had her heart torn into pieces (which I had to clean up) and we moved onto the next one.

Casey had already raced up to the door, her Barbie backpack slung over her shoulder in a sloppy fashion. I rolled my eyes for the third time. I always rolled my eyes when it came to my family. They were just something I had to roll my eyes at. We weren't quite functional like a normal family-maybe because we weren't a normal family.

"Come on, Court." My mom smiled. "This'll be fun." But she clearly didn't have the same definition of fun as I did.

"I WANT THIS ROOM!" Casey yelled. She had run straight to find her perfect bedroom. I laughed at her. It was always the first thing she did, and it was quite cute how she did it. I loved my little sister-no matter how annoying she could get-more than anything else in the world. She was the one constant thing I could always count on to be there for me. Not even my mom was always there for us, though she did try. Casey and I had a special kind of bond.

Constantly moving hadn't fazed Casey one bit as she grew up. To her it was just one big adventure. To me, a much older and wiser person, it was irritating. As a child I had loved it, one big adventure all the time. Now I hated moving. I just wanted one constant place to call my home, but there was never a chance I'd get what I wanted. Mom didn't believe in settling down, no matter how many times she said 'this place is going to be the last, I can feel it' it never was.

"So," I asked my mom. We were both in the kitchen, unpacking all the cutlery and plates and things like that. "How long are we staying this time?"

"Don't say it like that, Courtney." My mom sighed.

"Why not?" I asked. "We're only going to be packed up and moving again in a few weeks."

"Courtney..."

"But who wants to stay in one place for the rest of their life, right?" I shook my head, placing the last of the glasses in the top cupboard so Casey couldn't reach and smash them. "I'm going to unpack my stuff..."

My mother didn't say a word to me as I walked into my bedroom. The people from the moving company had placed all of our furniture where we had asked, meaning my room was now 'complete'. I got down on the floor by the bottom of my bed and opened up shoulder bag I had taken in the car with me. I pulled out my laptop, it was the second thing I always did when I got settled into my room. The first was take out the small notebook I kept in the front compartment of my laptop bag at all times and wrote my new address down.

It was getting late anyway, so I probably should have started getting ready for bed. The first thing I did was log onto my blog. I always kept a blog. A record of my moves. My feelings. Whatever I could think of. Quite a lot of people talked to me on it, and it was nice to see that some people were actually interested in my life when I really wasn't.

_'Just got here in Manhattan. Finished unpacking the glasses and ran to my room. Another argument with my mother over how long we're staying, but what's new? I haven't even had the chance to unpack yet, but I'd better get a move on, who knows if I'll be able to get everything out before my mom decided to move again, right? It's getting late and I'm tired...Now all I have to do is find the right box for the bed sheets..._

_Peace and love, Girl On The Move' _

The cold air hit my face and I tightened my grip on my cardigan. I had always had trouble sleeping on the first night in a new place. It was so unfamiliar, so many new things to be discovered. So, in an attempt to do something other than lie in bed all night, I'd got up and climbed out of my bedroom window.

Now, I didn't do it so I could fall to my death, I did it because my bedroom window led out to the fire escape. Trust me to pick the bedroom closest to the safest route out of the place. At least I was going to be safe if there was ever a fire over the next few weeks.

I was leaning against the unsafe railings; the ones that felt like they would crumble under my arms if I moved even in the slightest, staring out over the city of Manhattan. It was a pretty decent view. You could see the Hudson River in the moonlight, just past a few extra apartment blocks, but they seemed to be shorter than my floor in my apartment block.

"Trouble sleeping, darling?" I looked straight upwards to see a teen boy staring down at me from the fire escape above. He had icy-blue eyes, even in the dark of night I could them so clearly. His hair was bright green, styled to point up in a Mohawk fashion with the sides in a buzz cut, the black hair starting to come through. One word came to mind; delinquent.

A/N: Uh...Hey there, guys :D

I thought I'd take a chance and rewrite one of my all-time favorite stories that I have ever written! Though, that list is actually quite long...haha!

But, yeah, I thought I'd take a chance and rewrite this story as well as another story of mine called The Going's On. So please, check that one out too :D

Well...Yeah...That is basically all I have to say right now!

OH! There are 13 chapters and an epilogue to this story, so I should be updating either daily or every other day or...Something along those lines. I'll update when I can (:

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	2. Chapter 2

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Two**

"Mom!" Casey cried, throwing her head back in frustration. "Why do I have to go to school?" She asked. "Why can't you homeschool us like Angelica, huh? I hate starting at a new school ALL the time!"

"School!" My mom commanded, pointing towards the door. Casey groaned, but still slung her backpack over her shoulder and marched from the apartment anyway. She knew she was fighting a losing battle. It was the same thing with her each time we moved. Casey hated meeting new people; she was bad at it too. She was the sort of person who found it difficult to make friends. She had always been like it. And ever since we moved away from somewhere in Montana, where Casey had actually made friends with our neighbor Angelica, she had always been complaining that she wanted to be homeschooled like Angelica was.

Mom never gave in to her, though. She claimed to never have enough time to keep us both home from school, but I didn't want to be homeschooled. I quite liked going to a normal school and actually acting normal. I even believed, for a while, that I was normal. And then we moved again and I realized that I was never going to be normal.

I climbed onto the bright yellow school bus. The first day at a new school is always the hardest. You don't know anyone. You don't know your way around the building. You don't know any of the new school rules, so you may break a rule on the first day without even realizing it. I always worried about the first day, after that I was fine, but that first day is always-ALWAYS-a killer.

The first thing I did was subtly scan the other students on the bus. It was a natural thing to do. I had to see who I had to avoid before I even started the day. I had learnt many times over that you have to be careful what group you fall into.

I took my seat towards the back, resting my messenger bag down on the seat beside me. It would have been totally awkward if someone had sat down next to me. I mean, the school bus was not the place to meet people. It was the last place on Earth I would want to meet someone because of how awkward the 'Isn't this nice weather?' conversation could be.

"You don't want to sit there," A girl had popped her head over the back of my seat. She had sun-blonde hair and olive green eyes, and the most amazing smile that you could have ever seen.

"Why not?" I asked in reply. It was a bus seat, it was hardly going to be bad luck or haunted. Though, I do people who believed in such superstisious nonsense. I, however, did not.

"That's Duncan's seat." She replied. I gave her a funny look in return. Duncan's seat? Really? Were we in Kindergarten again?

"It's just a seat; there are plenty of other's." I told her.

"I know, but Duncan sits in that seat every single day an-"

"He's not sitting in it now, is he?"

"No, but that's because he always gets on the bus late." She replied. She did seem pretty interested in keeping me from the wrath of 'Duncan', whoever that was. "You're in for it now..." And then she sank back as if she didn't know me (which she didn't, for that matter).

I turned my attention to the front of the bus and sure enough there was a teenage boy climbing aboard. Of course, it just had to be the one person I was dreading to see again. It was that punk boy who lived in the apartment above me, the one who I'd met last night on the fire escape.

He kept walking up the aisle, headphones plugged into his ears at one end and an iPod at the other. His eye didn't meet mine until he was only a few seats away. They were still the same amazing icy blue color they had been on that night, but now, in the daylight, they looked even icier. More than likely to match his ice cold heart. They were even more breath taking than before. I wanted to look away, but they held me in place.

"So, here we are again, Darling." He smirked, unplugging his ear pieces. "And I believe you are in my seat." I raised an eyebrow up at him. He could not be serious.

"Your seat?" I asked. "You do not own this seat."

"Oh, I believe I do, Sweetheart." Duncan replied. I rolled my eyes at him. Typical guy, thinks he own everything. "I've been sitting in that seat every day since I started middle school."

I rolled my eyes once more. I knew this bus was shared with the middle school kids, but that minor story seemed far-fetched. The same seat every single day for the past, what, five years maybe? I doubted he even went to school that many times each year. He did not have the right to claim the seat as his own, so I wasn't planning on giving it up.

"But, since it is you, Dollface, I'll make an exception." Duncan's smirk only grew as I watched his face more and more intently. "For today..."

Duncan walked away, sitting in the seat at the back, in the opposite corner to the one the blonde girl was sat in. I didn't turn to look at either of them, but I knew they were both staring at me as I stared out the window. The bus moved into motion and I knew the next few weeks were going to be hell from start to finish, and they hadn't even begun yet.

"You must be Courtney Madison." The teacher smiled at me. I smiled back, even if my name was wrong. But I wasn't going to correct her.

My name is Courtney Madison _Taylor_, actually, but everyone just calls me Courtney Madison. My mom would never say her last name was Taylor, she always goes by her maiden name; Rees. Madison is my middle name, but everyone thinks it's my surname because my mom always writes it down as so on school information and things. It doesn't bother me, I guess. I mean, it's not like I'm ever going to see my dad again, is it?

I couldn't concentrate on anything in school. I know I should have been able to, unlike everyone else in the class. I mean, they were all chatting away to their friends; I had no one to talk to. No one had decided to sit beside me in any of my classes, but I wasn't shocked. Who would want to be friends with the new girl, right?

It was the same thing with every school I went to. But there was no point arguing with it, it was just a part of my life. It always had been and probably would always be. I knew I'd only be staying in this place for a few weeks, maybe five? I wasn't too sure. It all depends how long my mother decides to stay with whatever man she lands, or has probably already landed.

My mother never wastes any time in finding herself a boyfriend. She's usually already found one by the time I get home after school, and I was just about to leave.

The bell rang and I jumped up too quickly catch the bus before it left. I pretty much sprinted out of the school building, slinging my messenger bag over my shoulder.

It was the same yellow bus I had taken that morning. It was almost empty, only a few people were already sat on it. And none of them paid any attention to me what-so-ever. It was if I was invisible or something. Then again, I usually was in new schools.

I decided to sit in the same seat I had that morning, too. It wasn't just to piss Duncan off; it was because I knew no one was going to sit by me. I could live with that. There wasn't much point in making friends; I'd only end up having to leave them in the end. Or in a few short weeks' time.

"So, you're braving another encounter with Duncan Evans, then?" I turned my head to the side to see the blonde girl from that morning popping her head over the back of the seat. "I'm Bridgette, by the way, Bridgette Thalan."

"Courtney." I smiled in reply. "Courtney Madison Taylor."

"So, you're new here, right?" I nodded my head. "That's cool." Bridgette smiled even wider, her olive green eyes glowing. "I've been here for the past two and a half years. It gets boring after a while, trust me." I tried to reply, but Bridgette was a very chatty girl. I liked it. At least I had someone to talk to now. "So, where are you from?" She asked. I couldn't even answer that one properly, because I had no idea myself.

"I moved here from Maine." I replied. That was the truth. Three whole weeks in Maine. "But I've moved around too much to tell where I actually come from."

"Wow..." Bridgette replied, quite impressed. "I've never moved anywhere, not even a house. I've lived in the same house since before I was even born. My mom likes it so much that she doesn't want to move out of it. I don't understand why, it's not even that nice of a house. So, where do you live now?"

"I believe that's my seat you're in, sweetheart." That husky voice could only have belonged to one person and one person only.

I turned my head away from Bridgette to look at Duncan. I could see the blonde girl sink back into her own seat at the very sight of the green-haired teen. I smiled up at him, but he didn't seem too happy.

"I don't see your name on it." I replied. Okay, I do have to admit that was a bit childish, but I had nothing else to say to him. I mean, seriously, that had been the first thing that had come to mind.

"Cute and funny." Duncan chuckled under his breath. "And, FYI, Malibu, she lives downtown, the apartment under mine." Duncan then turned and walked to sit in the seat he had sat in that morning, picking the red-headed nerd who was already sitting there up by his collar and tossing him into the aisle.

"What's his problem?" I wondered aloud.

"Duncan thinks he owns the school, and the school bus. He doesn't let anyone get in his way, so he must like you if he's letting you sit in his sacred seat."

As if Duncan liked me. The way he was acting made me sick to my stomach, and that couldn't have been a good thing, could it?

"Malibu?" I questioned Bridgette.

"Duncan thinks that I belong on the beach in Florida because I love to surf all the time." Bridgette replied to me. She did seem friendly enough to me. "And there isn't really anywhere for me to surf around here...So..." I got the point, even if I wasn't paying a lot of attention to her. I was too busy trying to work out what Duncan's deal was. I just had no idea.

A/N: HELLO!

Just me again xD

How was the chapter?

I hope ya'll enjoyed it :D

I'm sorry for the wait since my last update :(

I'll try and get more chapters up frequently :D

Thank you to;

EmmaTheHomicidalSquid: hahaha! Don't mind me, just losing my mind and updating long forgotten stories XD Whoop! It's like reading a whole new story xD Thank you :D

NoH8-make-a-rainbow: SAMI! HI! I'M GLAD I'M RE-WRITING THIS TOO! I LOVE YOU! Thanks :D

Kutiekat44: No, probably not. I thought I had an idea for it, but I just lost interest after a while. haha! I'm sorry to disappoint...Thank you :D

Guest: I will absolutel try my best to continue (: Thanks :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Ah yes...Must say you did a terrible job, sooo many mistakes in this ;) hahaha! Thank you :D

Monika: I'm glad you like it (: Thanks :D

Guest: haha! I am quite a fan of the word darling, it's cute ^^ Aw, tahnk you ever so very much :D

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

7 reviews on one chapter? THAT'S INSANITY PEOPLE!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Not spellchecked due to the fact I'm gonna be late for work!

Love, Chloe xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Three**

I couldn't stop thinking of Duncan. I mean, not that I was interested in him at all, but after what Bridgette had said about him never giving that seat up for anyone, why was I so different? Did he like me? Of course not. That was a stupid idea and I wished I had never thought of it.

"COURTNEY!" My mom called out. As soon as I entered the apartment she could see me from where she was in the kitchen. She had finished with the boxes now, everything was unpacked and she was cooking dinner ready for us.

"Hey." I smiled. She was in a good mood. I knew why. "So," I jumped up on the kitchen counter besides the refrigerator and smiled at her. "What's his name?"

My mother looked shocked as she stopped stirring the mixture and looked at me. I raised an eyebrow, knowing I was right again. She sighed, showing me I was right too.

"Matt." She smiled dreamily. "He works in the same company I applied for today."

"Yeah?" I urged for more details. "And what does he do? How did you meet?" I always asked the same questions, wanting to know every detail of the man before I asked to meet him. I wanted nothing but the best for my mother, even if she never took my opinion when it came to men.

"Okay, he works at the front desk-"

"He's a secretary?" I asked, cutting across my mother. She slapped my leg disapprovingly.

"No, he works on the front desk." She corrected. Of course, 'works at the front desk' was just a non-gay seeming way to say that this man was a secretary. "So, we met as soon as I walked in. He smiled at me, I smiled at him..." She sighed again. "He pointed me in the right direction and then he even wished me luck...Oh, Court!" My mother smiled, looking at me again. "It was love at first sight!"

I smiled. It always made me smile to see my mother so happy. Of course, she was overplaying things as usual. What normal people called being friendly, she called flirting or love at first sight. I don't believe in mushy stuff like that. It belongs in fairy books, nowhere else. 'To love is to destroy' and I had seen my mother destroyed so many times before.

xox

The night cold air was as chilly as it had been the night before. I still came and sat out on the fire escape, hoping to get some calm and relaxing time alone. It worked. The noisy city was what always soothed me. I was not a country girl at all. Give me a city any day of the week and I'll be happy for the day.

"How can you sit around in all this noise?" I recognized the voice instantly.

"Because it's calming, Duncan." I replied. He must have been impressed that I knew his name because, even without looking at him, I knew he was smirking his ass off. I was good at instantly noting people's body language, and somehow I felt as if I had known Duncan for years the way I knew his movements so well. And we had only met twenty-four hours before.

"Nah." He disagreed with me, what a shock there. "Can't get any sleep in a place like this, Princess."

I rolled my eyes, determined to just ignore him. Of course, that didn't really work out too well. I was a talkative person; I just had an urge to keep talking to him. I have no idea why. I mean, I don't even like the boy. He's weird and creepy and stalks me from the fire escape above mine.

"Princess?" I questioned.

"Yeah, you're stuck up, a smart-ass and always get your own way." Duncan called back down to me. "You're a Princess."

"I do not always get my own way!" I snapped. "And if you're talking about the bus seat, you can have it back. It smells, anyway..." I muttered the last part, but Duncan must have heard me since he did chuckle a bit. It was a childish remark.

There was silence for a little while. I soon realized why. As I turned my head to the side, I could see Duncan watching me from the rusted ladder. I rolled my eyes again, picking up my cellphone and moving towards my bedroom window. Stalker. There was a word for people like him; stalker.

"Goodnight, Duncan." I smiled, climbing in through the open part.

"Goodnight, Princess." He replied cockily and mockingly. I should have responded to it, but I was far too tired to do something like that.

I locked up the glass and pulled my peachy curtain across the whole window. I didn't really like the color, and it didn't match my mostly pink room, but they had come with the apartment. And my mom didn't ever spend a lot of time decorating the new places, there was no point. We were usually up and gone by the time we'd got used to the place. Pointless to try and make it homey.

I crawled into my bed, pulling the warm covers around me. My mind was racing with a lot of questions, but I just couldn't answer them. I eventually fell off into slumber. However, I had the weirdest of dreams.

It was all dark and gory. It was as if I was in a real life horror movie or something. I woke up in sweats. Turning to look at my alarm clock, I could see it was around three hours before I even had to get up at six for school. Nightmares didn't usually plague me, but when they did I was scared.

First thing that came to mind was air. I needed some fresh air. So, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I slipped my feet into the fuzzy white slippers and I grabbed my old faded pink hoodie. It was definitely going to be colder outside now than it had been earlier. I needed to keep warm and not catch any illnesses before we moved again. Moving whilst ill was a bad thing, I know from experience. Being cooped in a car and constantly wanting to puke, not so good.

Unlocking the door, I noticed that the wind had swept my deck chair over. I climbed out and went to rescue it. Bad idea. I could feel someone watching me. Or at least I thought I could feel someone watching me. I slowly turned my head upwards and, low and behold, Duncan was there. He was asleep. Or dead. Most likely asleep. I could not pass up an opportunity like this one. I mean, it may never have happened again in my entire life. I had to do something.

I have never been one for pranks personally, but Duncan seemed different. I may have only met him just over twenty-four hours ago, but I could tell he was not the sort of person I would usually hang out with at school. Of course, this did mean I was able to relax a little with him because I wasn't trying to subtly impress him.

My brunette hair was getting caught in the wind as I climbed a few steps up the ladder. Duncan looked so cute in his sleep. WAIT! Scratch that last part. He looked young. Innocent. NOT CUTE!

It didn't matter anyway, I was about to change that.

"OH MY GOD! THE APARMENTS ON FIRE!" I screamed as loud as I could.

Duncan was wide and alert within an instant. Of course, he quickly jumped up, only problem with that is his head hit my jaw and we both cried out in pain.

"Jeez, Princess!" He yelped, rubbing his temples. I kept one hand on my jaw, the other digging my nails into the wood to stop myself from crying in pain. "I'm sorry..." Duncan apologized. I never had Duncan down as an apologetic person. And it wasn't even his fault! "Let's get some ice for that..."

I continued to rub my jaw as Duncan got to his feet. I wasn't sure whether or not to follow him. I mean, we had only met the day before and it wasn't as if we were even friends or even anything close to friends. We were neighbours for the following weeks that my mother continued to date this guy she met that day.

"You coming or not, sweetheart?" Duncan asked. I turned to face him and he was already inside the apartment, sticking his head out of the window and onto the fire escape to see if I was following him.

I decided I needed some ice, my jaw was killing me. However, I could have always just gone back down the ladder and got my own ice. So, why did I choose to follow Duncan into his own apartment? Because I am an idiot when I want to be.

It was definitely Duncan's bedroom that we had entered into. The floor was black carpeted and the walls were the exact same color, though you wouldn't have been able to tell from all of the posters that cluttered the space. I didn't have any posters on my walls, by the time I'd stick them all up, it would be time to tear them down and move again. It wasn't my thing to try.

It was quite a neatly kept room, which was a surprise. There were no piles of dirty clothes scatter over the floor or even anything on the floor. It was as if his mother had made him clean up because they had guests coming over or something.

Duncan led the two of us out of his room and into the living room. His apartment had the exact same layout as mine, only with the furniture ordered a different way. It was a strange sight to see when I was getting used to my apartment.

The even stranger boy was now standing in the kitchen area of the overly-large room. He had his head in the freezer, searching for some sort of cooling device for my jaw. It was still throbbing in pain, but I was not willing to show I was in any.

Duncan patted the counter beside the refrigerator, the exact same spot I had sat on in my own apartment when I had gotten home from school. I did as I was told, though, jumping up and letting Duncan fiddle with some stray ice-cubes. He slid them into a clear plastic bag and pressed it to my jawline, which must have been slightly bruised because he pressed it straight to the sore area.

"You should be fine." Duncan told me and I nodded, unsure of how he knew that, but I was not going to question it. He was too busy searching for some aspirin, which I knew because he eventually found it.

"So..." I said, trying to make small talk. "How long have you been living here?"

"Here as in this apartment, "he started stopping to swallow down one tablet, "about three years." He swallowed down the other and poured the rest of the glass of water down the sink. "Here as in Manhattan, about my whole life. I moved here when I was only a few months old."

It was weird how honest he was being with me. It was as if Duncan Evans was a whole different person away from the crowds of people in school. He was a sensible person. A person I may have actually wanted to be friends with.

"What about you?" He asked, sitting down on the sofa. I walked over and sat down too.

"I have no idea." I answered honestly.

"You don't know where you lived before you moved here?" Duncan looked at me as if I was crazy, probably thinking about how shit my memory must really be if I can't even remember a few days back.

"What I mean is...I have no idea where I'm from." That was the honest answer I could give. "Before here, I was in Maine for three weeks, before that it was Nevada and before that somewhere in Toronto up in Canada. I have been moving around my whole life. Every few months, or sometimes weeks, my mom packs up and just ships the three of us out again."

"And what does your dad think about that?"

I froze up. My dad was not a subject I liked to talk or even think about. My father was not a person I wanted to know.

"I-I don't know..." I replied. "I never see him."

Duncan must have sensed that something was wrong. Maybe it was the way my head was now facing the floor or even the way my eyes would not meet his.

"Sorry..." He mumbled. Second apology of the night. "Just when you said three...I thought..."

"Me, my mom and my sister." I corrected him. The conversation was awkward enough. I was quite ready to change it all together, but I thought it was time to reverse the role now. What about Duncan?

"What about you and your family?" Duncan was looking slightly ashamed as I asked, his eyes fixated on the electric fireplace that was on the wall. It was not lit, like his mind, but I could tell he was thinking hard about something.

"Well, I live here with my parents." He admitted. "My sister is off at college and I am stuck in High school."

The once tough punk was now looking as if he had a dry lump in his throat. It was as if he was hiding something from me. Like he had committed a murder and was now being interrogated for it. I wanted to question Duncan a bit further, but I never got the chance. As soon as I moved closer to him on the sofa, the light switched on and we both turned to look at the switch.

Standing there was a woman in her late forties. She had shoulder length blonde hair, pulled back into a low ponytail, and was wrapped up in a think pink dressing gown. She wasn't looking too impressed.

"And what time do you call this?" She asked sternly.

"Uh...Morning?" Duncan replied. Not his smartest move.

"Bed, Duncan Jeremy." The woman commanded. "And you, young lady, should be getting home."

"Y-Yes, ma'am." I shakily replied, getting to my feet. Duncan did the same and the woman turned her back on us both, retreating back to the bedroom underneath my little sister's.

I turned to Duncan, a bit shaken up from that close encounter. He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. It probably wasn't the best way for me to meet his mother. At least I knew one more thing about him; his middle name is Jeremy. That sort of information may come in handy for future reference.

"Ignore Ma..." Duncan told me. "She gets a bit grouchy after working the night shift and not getting a lot of sleep."

"I heard that!"

I smiled a little, stopping myself from giggling. I was quite happy to stay there and talk to Duncan for the rest of the morning, though that probably wasn't the best of ideas. His mother wanted me gone and I was quite happy to follow her order. So Duncan led me back into his bedroom and back out onto the fire escape. I handed him back the ice and I suddenly felt so awkward around him. I folded my arms across my chest as the cold air was sending me chills, but it wasn't very good use as it was very thin itself. I tried not to show my coldness, though Duncan was probably freezing.

"I guess I'll see you on the bus." I said, smiling ever so slightly. Neither of us met eye-to-eye. Neither of us wanted to show our insecurity to each other.

"Yeah..." He replied.

After another moment or so of hanging around in silence, I decided it was time to get home. I slowly started my descend down the ladder and soon found myself back on my own level.

"Good night." I heard Duncan calling and replied with the same thing, smiling to myself the whole time. I slowly climbed back into my bedroom window and crawled into bed, tucking myself up safely. My second night in Manhattan was definitely not the worst.

A/N: YO!

I realize it has been FOREVER!

My excuse? I broke my ankle...

That's pretty much been my excuse for everything for the past five weeks XD

BUT IT IS TRUE!

And here I am now, Face Timing my best friend (ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm) and writing this out for you guys because I love you so much! haha! And Maddi wanted me to xD

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Pitch Perfect is AWESOME! I don't like Rainy Mood...I don't see everyone's fascination with it! NOPE! I can't buy apps, my dad would murder me...I don't like Angry Birds either xD Thank you :D

NoH8-make-a-rainbow: Ah, sadly I never got around to a Christmas fic this year...Or last year, I guess it is now! haha! And yes, I work now! I'm a kitchen worker in a cafe...It sounds boring but I really enjoy it (: Thanks :D

Coderrafan4: Aww, thank you ever so very much! That means a lot that you think that (: Thank you :D

Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying (: Thanks :D

ChibiMoonCakes: That sounds like a great morning to me xD Aw, thank you :D

Fairytale Love and Chocolate: Sorry for the long wait, but I'm glad you're enjoying (: Thanks :D

anime pirate 13: Glad you like it (: Thank you :D

HOLY SHIT!

THAT WAS 7 REVIEWS ON ONE CHAPTER!

THESE DAYS I CAN BARELY GET TWO!

So, I want to let ya'll know that I love you and you're awesome and...PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING! XD

haha!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	4. Chapter 4

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Four**

I smiled myself to sleep that night. I guess knowing that there was another side to the bad-assed punk was a good thing. Duncan wasn't as dangerous as I had thought he was. The facade he put on was just that; a facade.

Of course, the night didn't last very long as I did have to be up at six, which was only two hours after I managed to fall back asleep. Needless to say I was cranky and my jaw was still aching when my alarm clock went off. I didn't even have to look in the mirror to know it was bruised. Luckily it was easy enough to cover up with make-up; all I had to do was then pray no one would spot it.

"How do I look?" My mom came running into my room-still smoothing down her gray pencil skirt-just as I finished packing up my shoulder bag. She did look quite nice, no doubt to impress that man behind the counter. I don't think I have seen her dressed down for work on any occasion or at any job. There was always a chance to impress someone and she never let down.

"You look fine, mom." I told her, jumping on my bed and pulling my laptop up from the floor. I hadn't updated my blog since I had arrived; I needed to do that before school. I kept up with my blog as often as I could and I enjoyed having somewhere to document my life. And damn, was there a lot to document.

"You are always on that thing, Courtney Madison." My mother tutted, walking over and picking it up from my lap. I frowned at her, but she didn't seem to care. Mom was not the sort of person that grounded me all the time or encouraged me to keep my room in such a neat state, but she was still my mom. She still wanted what was best for me and what was best for Casey too. And I loved her for it. It was something normal in this abnormal life of ours.

"Quickly now," she winked. "Don't want to miss the bus." I rolled my eyes knowing that I was not going to get my laptop back now. Plus, the bus would be arriving at any moment. I knew I was out of time. So I grabbed my bag and belted it out the door without any breakfast instead. It was the most important meal of the day, but I was in no mood to miss the bus. I was far too tired to walk and like hell mom was going to give me a ride.

Casey had already left; her bus comes ten minutes before mine. Poor children. Then again, the younger the children, the more awake they are in the morning anyway. Casey never complained about having to wake up that extra bit earlier than me, but I knew she was growing ever more tired of doing it. She was growing tired of this life style we lived too.

Luckily the bus hadn't pulled off by the time I got there, but I was in for a shock. Duncan had already got to the bus before me and was happily sat in his seat. His headphones were in and I could hear the music over the noise of everyone else. I simply took the seat beside him, mainly because most of the other places were full due to the fact there was only one more stop after mine on the way to school.

Duncan turned to face me, his blue eyes glaring directly at me. I showed I wasn't bothered, even though I was dying inside. Even more so as he, in very slow motion, took out his ear buds and gave me a very small smirk.

"What do you think you're doing?" He growled lowly, obviously trying to intimidate me. I had to admit that it was working. It may have been a facade, but it was a damn well good one.

"I'm sitting in one of the very few remaining seats-"

"Very few," Duncan repeated. "That means there are others."

"And now I'm sat in this one." He scowled at my reply, but said nothing more. He put his headphones back in and I stared down the aisle for the rest of the journey.

School was actually quite good for a change. I know I move around a lot, but I have always been top of my class. Different teachers have different methods, therefore it was a lot easier for me to pick up on a way I found easiest.

Straight A's on report cards, usually with a comment that started with 'In the short time Courtney has attended our school...'. I was used to it all by the age of sixteen. School was school, I would beat everyone in the class, shocking them all until I left and moved onto the next one, only to repeat the process.

Geek. Nerd. Dork. I've heard it all. It doesn't bother me. Petty name calling is something I was not going to retaliate to. Nothing anyone ever did or said would I retaliate to. I was just the new geeky girl in school, it would all soon be another memory and the pain would start again in another High school of mom's choice. I had very little say in my education, I always had. My mom still treated me like I was six, not sixteen.

"Okay, Princess." Duncan hissed, blocking my path towards the school exit. "I know what happened last night...May have led you on, BUT-"

"Led me on?" I questioned, resisting the urge I had to gag. "As if! I don't know what I did to make you think I was 'led on' by you, but I can assure you I wasn't." I tried to push my way past, just wanting to get to the bus before it left without the two of us. Then again, I could live if Duncan missed it, at least there would be no seat arguing for once.

"Then I guess you don't need to sit beside me on the bus anymore." Duncan told me, stepping to the side and stopping me from walking once more.

"Uh...I don't sit beside you; I sit in an empty space which does not have your name marked on it." I retorted, knowing what Duncan was getting at. Whatever his deal with that seat was, I was planning on changing. Someone had to teach this boy that a seat is a seat, no need to cry over it.

"Now, if you excuse me, we'd both better be getting to our bus before it leaves without us."

This time, when I tried to barge past, Duncan let me. I could hear my footsteps echoing down the corridor shortly followed by his. This was going to be one long day for me, I could feel it.

I managed to get on the bus before Duncan did, snagging the seat in the process. Duncan didn't sit by me. Duncan didn't even attempt to take the seat beside me; he moved to sit on the other row, opposite of my space. Neither of us talked for the whole journey home. Though it wasn't far to go, it was an awkward silence the whole time. The bus was full of chatter, but the two of us kept turning to look at the other, but every time we got caught, we'd quickly look away. It was like two small children with a crush on each other, only we weren't small children and we definitely did not have a crush on each other!

xxx

The night air was something I craved. It was cooling, it was calming. The view from the fire escape was still as beautiful from the first night, still as breath-taking as the first time I ever set foot on the wooden ledge.

I'd managed to find my own fold-out chair in one of the cardboard boxes we hadn't unpacked yet, it was comfier than the one mom had given me temporarily. I preferred my own chair; I found it a lot easier to concentrate in. And I needed to concentrate. I had a lot of my blog to update, telling all my followers about my journey so far. It had been a few days since my last post, and I had the whole Duncan story to post.

_'Sorry the wait guys, I wanted to give you a quick heads-up this morning, but mom took away my laptop before I had the chance (no fair!). But I do have a ton to tell you!_

_The first thing is-Mom has found her next target. I haven't met him yet, but he's the secretary-sorry-he's the guy who 'works on the front desk'-as my mother keeps telling me to refer to him to-for the new company she's started at. His name's Matt and she seems hooked, but when hasn't she?_

_Next up on the agenda would be a boy called Duncan. He's got green hair and face that could attract a magnet. He lives in the apartment building above me and has a complete obsession with this seat on the school bus. _

_Okay, I have to admit it, I do sort of like him...I mean, not like him like him...Just...I like his soft side, if you get what I mean. Last night, well, this morning really due to the time being around four AM, we did share a brief moment where we opened up about ourselves. But it was nothing! Duncan went straight back to being a jerk as soon as I saw him today. _

_Oh well...I'll try and keep you as posted as I can, me and my busy life-style keeps me on my toes._

_Peace and love, Girl On The Move.'_

I clicked submit and there was blog, ready and waiting for the world to see.

I decided it was best to not turn off my laptop, but keep it open for me to keep checking back for comments and so-forth. I liked getting comments. People would tell me either how lucky I was to travel the states or how unlucky I was to not know what home felt like. They were usually the same things over and over again, but it was comforting.

_Bleep!_

My whole body jumped. I had fallen asleep on the chair out on the fire escape. It was my own fault, I hadn't had enough sleep the previous night, but that was okay. I could always sleep tonight.

Then I remembered why I had woken. 'Bleep' signaled someone had commented on my blog. It was one reason why I always kept the volume up and the laptop on.

But this was a first. I was really regretting reading this comment as soon as I started it:

_'TheMadHDude: Aww...You think I'm a jerk, Princess?' _

"You know, Princess." Because things weren't bad enough for me as it was. "I never would have guessed you thought I was a jerk."

I whipped my head around and upwards. Duncan was sat on the top few steps of the metal staircase, looking down on me. I never, not in a million years, would have ever thought that he would have been one of the people who read my blog. My blogs were just my way of sharing my life with the world. It helped me vent, it helped keep me sane. I had never met someone who read my blogs before. Or maybe I had. I never used my real name, I always went by 'Girl On The Move' and most people who ever commented on my blogs had their own nicknames too. Of course, Duncan, the only boy I have ever met and instantly disliked, had to be the one who broke my running streak of not knowing anyone. In not knowing anyone, it was easier to express myself. There would be no aftershock questions, and if there were, I didn't have to answer them from the readers.

"Duncan..." I whispered, all the hatred I had ever had for him was slowly leaving my body as I had a very bad feeling. My heart was beating in my chest and my mind drew a blank when I tried to think of all the clever remarks I could have used.

The green-haired boy descended down the rest of the ladder, resting his feet on my level for a change. That bad feeling escalated, making my stomach turn and the horrible feeling of a lump in my throat ensured.

Then I was over-whelmed with a different feeling. I quickly lifted my balled hand up, punching Duncan straight to the shoulder. I scowled and he raised an eyebrow.

"And what was that for?"

"What was that for?" I repeated, I didn't think he was stupid enough to have to ask. "THAT WAS FOR EVERYTHING!" The anger had built up over the past day or so. "YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE. A JERK. A PAIN IN MY FUCKING ASS, DUNCAN JEREMY EVA-"

Smash...That is the only word I can pick to describe the impact. It may have been one way to shut me up, but he hadn't had to have been so abrasive about it.

His lips on mine felt alien at first. It was very unexpected, but with his hands gripping my forearms, I had no choice but to let him keep it going. But I should admit I fell into it too.

It wasn't my first kiss, oh no, that kiss had been stolen from me during a game of spin the bottle when I was fourteen. Some little geeky boy back in Maine, at least I think it was Maine. I could hardly call that one a kiss though. It was terrible, whilst this one was more...More experienced, to say the least. Duncan clearly knew what he was doing and he knew I would have tried to pull back too soon. I was very secretly glad he did have such a tight grip on my arms. I was quite enjoying the kiss, but as all good things in my life, as soon as I start to enjoy it, it stops.

I panted quietly, trying to catch my breath as I stared Duncan square in the eyes. He wiped a small pool of saliva off his lips and smirked as he shook his head and turned to face the floor.

"WAHT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?" I screamed. I aimed another punch to his shoulder and it was very successful. I was either weak or Duncan didn't want to show I had hurt his shoulder badly. Either way, he didn't complain or even flinch from my own impact on him.

"I thought it would have been obvious by now, Princess..." His smirk slowly disappeared and he turned and climbed back up the ladder. "We'll talk later." He shouted down to me, but I was still in shock.

Duncan had kissed me.

A/N: GOD DAMNIT, DUNCAN! WHY EMOTIONALLY CONFUSE COURTNEY LIKE THAT?

Oh wait...That's my fault! Mwahahahaha!

Trust me, I'm an expert on being emotionally confused by now...

Boys -.-

ANYWAY!

I hope ya'll enjoyed this!

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Sorry, I was ignoring you this morning...I just couldn't bring myself to talk to anyone. You are an EPIC best friend :D hahaha! Stair sitting and eating noodles are two of my favorite things to do :P Thank you :D

NoH8-make-a-rainbow: I'm terrible for not updating stories on time! My ankle is much better, thanks for asking (: It's definitely a lot of fun to do :D Thanks :D

I love you two! You're awesome :D

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	5. Chapter 5

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Five**

If there was one thing about Duncan that annoyed me, it was the way he thought he could just get away with everything. It was as if everything he moved the world turned a blind eye to it, so he just kept moving. Then again, there wasn't just one thing that annoyed me about Duncan; there was a whole list full of things. I could pick out everything that Duncan knew drove me crazy yet he did anyway.

Duncan kissed me. I was still in shock over it, but I knew I had to move on. He had then replied to my question with _'I thought it was obvious by now'_ and that was the problem. Was it really that obvious? Was I just being oblivious to the truth? Of course not, he was just not making himself clear enough. Damn teenage boys, there was a reason I avoided them.

Then it hit me. It was as if the metal balcony I was still stood on had suddenly conducted electricity. I knew exactly what I had to do. Duncan had been reading my blogs: what was stopping me from reading his?

"Duncan?" I called out, but no answer came. That was a good sign, which meant that Duncan was inside his apartment, so he couldn't bother me for a while. Hopefully he wouldn't bother me for a while, anyway.

I sat back down in my fold-out chair and pulled my laptop onto my lap. I scrolled down the page and clicked on Duncan's screen name, 'TheMadHDude'. What sort of name was that? But I went snooping through his page anyway.

Name: D. Evans.

Age: Sixteen.

Living in: Manhattan, New York.

Joined: May 7th 2007

There was nothing out of the ordinary when it came to that. What was out of the ordinary was the photograph Duncan had for his profile ID. It was a picture of him as a child. The only reason I could tell was because of his icy-blue eyes, otherwise I never would have guessed. His little face was lit up with a bright smile, but he wasn't alone in the picture. There was another boy in there with him. The other boy looked about five or six years older, around just entering his teen years. He looked like Duncan. The looked like Duncan a lot. The only difference between them was this older boy had short, blonde hair that was spiked to a perfect point in a fauxhawk.

I found it very strange about how much they did look like each other. Everything was the same, right down to the icy-blue eyes they shared. They looked cute on Duncan, but they were haunting on the older boy. They weren't exactly bright like Duncan's, they seemed to be...dead.

I shook the thought from my mind, scrolling down so I couldn't see the picture anymore. But I did come across Duncan's most recent blog entry dated back to yesterday.

_'Chicks. Chicks are those things that you say 'I think she's hot' to your mates, but always say 'I think you look beautiful' when you come face-to-face with them. _

_Well, that's what I'm like anyway. Why? Because that's the way the world works. And, right now, there is that one girl who is beautiful. Her name is Princess(Not her real name, well done genius) and she's just moved to my school from some place I have probably never heard of(Sleeping in Geography apparently has a downside). I guess I like her, and that has taken a lot of guts for me to admit! But I don't love her. Love leads to heartbreak. Love always leads to heartbreak, you should all know why by now. I mean, I know it's been a few years, but I still think about it. I still think about him.'_

"HIM?" I practically screamed. DUNCAN'S GAY? That was the first thing that came to mind, but then, he said he liked me. That made my insides tighten up in a knot. He liked me? Duncan Evans likes me? What world was this making sense in because it certainly wasn't mine.

My only bet was to stop reading there and go back to find any older posts on such a thing. Duncan had said it had been a few years since...whatever had happened, so I might as well have skipped a few more recent posts and gone right to the beginning.

The beginning was always a good place to start, but maybe the end was a good place too. When I had finally gone through all the posts, I found myself right back to the start; May 7th 2007, with a post called The End.

_'Okay, point one, my name is Duncan. Point two, I am twelve years old. Point three, I hate the world. _

_What would a twelve-year-old have against the world, you may ask? Especially such a charming and educated one like me. Well, I have a lot. The world is one reason why I am now heartbroken; the world is now the reason why my life will forever have a gap in it now. _

_Today, May 7th 2007, my brother killed himself._

_Hunter Morgan Evans May 7th 1989-May 7th 2007. _

_He killed himself on his eighteenth birthday because of everything. Because of everyone. _

_My screen name TheMadHDude is in memory of Hunter. My Mad H Dude, the one who was always doing something completely insane and I want to be just like him one day. _

_I came across this site a few days ago and found that a lot of people used it in secretive way to spill out their feelings, so why can't I? This is how I feel, this is what I think. _

_I am hurt. I am hurt. I am hurt. But nothing is going to bring Hunter back to me now. _

_In honor of you big bro, when I get to High school, I will sit in that exact same seat on the bus. It was the one you sat in so you could look up at out apartment and wave me goodbye in the morning. I promise you that I will sit in that spot and look up at the balcony like you did every day._

_Happy eighteenth, my Mad H Dude! You've made it one to remember...'_

My eyes went wide and my throat ran dry. How could I have been so stupid? Of course there had to be some sort of psychological meaning behind it all. The whole stupid bus seat thing could not have been normal, I should have seen the deeper meaning behind it. Duncan loved his brother. Duncan looked up to his brother. And then he had killed himself.

I was not feeling so stupid anymore. I was now feeling full of regret and full of anger at myself. I had taken away Duncan's one connection to his brother, and I was never going to be able to forgive myself for that.

xxx

I climbed aboard the school bus, making no eye contact with anyone. My eyes were kept low, staring down at the floor as I sat near the front of the bus for a change. I didn't even look up to see if Duncan was on yet, but I assumed he was because we pulled away from the stop as soon as I touched down in my seat.

The ride was in silence for me-though the rest of was just as loud as usual-as I reflected over what I had learnt the previous night. I had thought about it ever since I had found out. I had retreated to my bedroom, locked the window and drawn my curtains. I wanted no contact with anyone. I just wanted to think.

I know Duncan had probably been outside for most of the night waiting for me to make an appearance as usual, but I never did. I felt bad for him if he did stay out there for me, but I couldn't face him. If I faced him, I would have broken down into tears right in front of him, and that was not going to happen any time soon.

Okay, I knew I had to face up to Duncan sometime, I mean, we did have classes together, but I would rather it be later rather than sooner. Duncan didn't need to know I had read his blogs, did he? I was scared he'd get angry and yell at me. Or worse, just nod sadly and hug me. What was I supposed to do then? Hug him back? Besides, I was still sort of mad about him kissing and ditching me like that.

School passed by in a blur for me, my mind still on Hunter. Poor boy, he had killed himself on his birthday. I could only imagine the horror on tiny Duncan's face as he was told his brother was dead. Or had been the one to find his brother's body? How had Hunter killed himself? Was it brutally? Was Duncan going to follow in his brother's steps directly to that point to? I felt sick.

My mind was buzzing with questions that I knew I was never going to have an answer to, but I didn't care. More and more questions kept flooding my mind. With every passing one, the worse they got.

I could barely stand on my own two feet from the dizziness I felt. I don't even know how I managed to find my own locker, or maybe I just recognized it as the one Duncan was leaning against when I finally wandered into the correct hallways.

"Prince-" I wrapped my arms around Duncan's torso as soon as I saw him, nuzzling my head into his chest. He didn't wrap his arms around me, probably had them in the air to not touch me at all. I must have caught him off guard, and we were still in a public place after all.

"Please don't kill yourself!" I cried, my voice muffled by his t-shirt.

"Don't-WHAT?"

I quickly opened my tightly squeezed eyes, not having realized what I had said until then. I pushed Duncan away, clearing my throat and smoothing down my clothes to distract myself from looking at him. Stupid emotions getting the better of me. I had just locked eyes with him and my internal walls had collapsed.

"Courtney, what's going on?" Duncan asked. And I knew it was serious by the way he said my actual name.

"I-I..." I sighed, looking down at the floor. "I read your blog..."

"And?" He wasn't getting this. But at least he wasn't mad at me for snooping.

"I mean," I continued, finally turning to look at him. "I read your first ever blog...A-About Hunter..."

Duncan's face fell flat, his icy-blue eyes losing all life in them as he stared at me in disbelief. Looking directly into his eyes, I could only imagine Hunter again in my mind and that picture I had seen on his profile. It was not a pretty image and I was starting to fear for the boy I barely knew.

Duncan looked as if his whole world had come crashing down around him, which it practically had. I had now gone and ruined his life even further by bringing it up. All I could do was think of myself as an idiot. An idiot who was set out to destroy a teenage boy who had been quite nice to me. In his own little way, of course, but still nice. I am sure he didn't need to be reminded of his brother, but here I was with my big mouth.

"Duncan...I-I'm so sorry..."

"Just..." But Duncan sighed, lowering his head and pinching the top of his nose. "Forget it. Just forget it, Court." He didn't even look at me as he walked off down the empty hallway.

The two of us had long missed the bus now, but I didn't care. I didn't even want to go home because I lived so close to Duncan. I hated myself. I had ruined everything before it had even begun. All I wanted to do now was hurry up and move again, finally understanding how my mother must have felt all the time.

A/N: My heart...

No, seriously, I feel fucking heartbroken for Courtney and Duncan.  
The more I read of this chapter the more I realized how sad it is...Sometimes I forget these things.

I worked it out that this story is set in 2011 =P  
...I feel like a genius XD

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: I'm glad you are spending so much time with Ty...sort of. Whoop! I'm glad your audition went well, here's hoping for the part you want! Thank you (:

Well, I know I can always count on a review from Maddi when everyone else decides it's not worth it...

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	6. Chapter 6

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Six**

_'How does it always come down to me messing something up? As usual, I over think things and end up digging a deeper hole as usual. I am going to end up just like my mother, I know it! Always running away from my problems, like I am doing now. Instead of sitting out on the fire escape, I am in my bedroom, hoping that Duncan just forgets all about me. That may just be best for everyone now.'_

I closed my laptop, not even in the mood to write a new blog entry. Duncan was still playing on my mind, what had I done? I had ruined a perfectly decent chance at a relationship. I had never had a relationship before. I never stuck around too long to even get a relationship. I never thought that anyone could fall for someone in such a short amount of time, but Duncan had been different. Duncan had been special. Duncan had been the person I had been waiting to meet for as long as I could remember. I just had to go and ruin it for myself.

I couldn't wait for my mom to make her own mistakes when it came to love, at least that way we could move again. I wanted to get as far away from Manhattan as possible. Maybe go somewhere nice, like California or even Washington D.C. I didn't care, as long as we were no longer in Manhattan.

I fell backwards, lying down on my bed with a thump. Life sucked a lot. My life always seemed to suck a lot. Being the new girl was never an easy thing for anyone, but I should have been used to it by now. I wasn't.

"Yeah..." I heard my mother talking; she must have been by my bedroom door for me to have heard her. "Of course." And just to prove me right, she walked in. "I will get it all printed onto the computer when I can." Her goofy smile was wide as she held the cell phone to her ear, no doubt talking to the secretly gay secretary.

"Okay, bye." The smile never left her face as she hung up and pounced onto my bed beside me. "How you doing, Courtney?" She asked. How good it must have felt to be so high up on love. Maybe I would never know.

"Was that Matthew?" I asked in a childish way, as if I was the adult and she was the child. Sometimes that was how I felt, as if my mom was more childish than I was. I don't want to sound mean about it, but she was quite immature.

"Yes, it was, mommy." She replied, getting what I meant. Sometimes I also thought she could read my mind. "Do I need to ask your permission before seeing him again?" Her bottom lip was stuck out in a pout and she batted her eyelashes up at me.

I couldn't help but smile, I couldn't help but laugh. I picked up on of my pillows and hit her with it. She started laughing too. That was the good thing about mom, she always laughed. I loved her laugh. I never used to hear a lot of it when I was growing up, but now we have out life some-what settled, we finally had something to smile about.

"So, what's the inside scoop this week?" I asked my mother, trying to me nice and polite. We hardly ever talked about how her day was; it was always about me and Casey. That was another great thing about my mom; she was always putting me and my sister before herself. Not a lot of parents would do that, I was grateful mine did.

"Well..." She sighed. "I have to just generally report on the news of the world right now." Mom didn't seem too happy about that, her voice lowers and her face following. "They aren't sure what position I would be best at, so they're trying to get me to do a bit of everything first."

I nodded, understanding perfectly. Maybe starting a new job was like starting at a new school. You didn't know anyone; you didn't know who you should avoid and who you should suck up to. You didn't know anything.

"So, how was your day?" She asked. We had decided to keep Matthew an 'off' topic subject. Until mom found out more about him, got him to smile and ask her on a date, he was a closed off deal. We were not to speak of him, but walking purposely into my room whilst on the phone to him was perfectly fine in her books.

"Oh, you know...Just dandy." I replied, the most sarcastic smile on my face I could give.

Mom understood me, which was another good thing. She simply wrapped her arms around my body, hugging me close on the bed and simply replied, "Things get better. They always do."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

We broke apart, both turning over to my window. Duncan was stood there, to both of our shock. He was leaning against the side wall, so we could only see him from the side as he looked out, over the view from the fire escape which I had.

"Maybe things will get better now." Mom told me. "You have a visitor." Because that wasn't obvious.

She got up from the bed, leaving the room to start getting undressed most likely. She was still in her work clothes, not long having gotten in. During the first few weeks, mom always worked late, showing she was a dedicated person to the company. Of course, this was a downside for me and Casey. We would usually be home alone, her having to sit outside and wait for me as her bus came home earlier than mine too.

I always cooked dinner for us, I always made sure that Casey had a bath and was in bed by the time mom was home. She did always stay awake, though, waiting for our mother to come say her goodnights. As mom described it, as soon as Casey felt her lips press against her forehead she drifted straight off to sleep. Poor thing, she did have a hard life.

I came back from my world, thinking about how much mom worked to keep me and Casey clothed and fed, realizing Duncan was still outside. He hadn't knocked again, but I knew he was waiting for me to answer him. This wasn't going to be good. But I took in a deep breath as I heard my bedroom door click shut. The last thing I wanted was my mom anywhere near the scene that was about to unfold between me and Duncan. I slowly got up from my bed, walking over to the window. Duncan was still out there, leaning forward against the railings that stopped him from falling to his own death.

_NO! YOU CAN'T SAY THAT, COURTNEY!_

Each side of my confused head kept on screaming at each other and I was stuck in the middle. I had no idea what to do or what to say, but I still climbed out onto the fire escape. I was going to face this, even if I had no idea what I was going to do or what I was going to say, but I felt drawn to go out there and at least be next to Duncan. Maybe as a form of apology. Maybe as a form of friendship, which was something we were both clearly looking for. Just someone who would be there and listen when we talked.

"Hey..." I whispered, moving across the floor so I was stood beside Duncan. We both looked off in opposite directions, neither of us really wanting to face each other.

"Courtney..." Duncan sighed.

"It's okay," I told him, braving it to look at him. Duncan looked like he was in pain, which he was, but he looked like he was physical pain to me. It was as if his heart really was torn in two, not just figuratively. "You don't have to tell me anything, Duncan." To be honest, the less I knew, the better I felt about it. But, at the same time, the worse I felt about it because I was unable to comfort Duncan.

"Hunter was my best friend..." He whispered. "I-I shouldn't have acted the way I did earlier with you." He sounded very sincere, and though it wasn't an actual apology, I still accepted it. "It's just...When you mentioned it...And told me not to kill myself...It got me too worked up...It got me thinking of Hunter and how...How I had no control over trying to stop him. I was just a stupid kid."

I reached out, hesitating, my hand mid-air, before resting it on Duncan's shoulder. I was sure if he would appreciate it or push me away, but I wanted to try. I wanted Duncan to know that I was there and I was sorry.

"You know..." He sighed again, making me worry. "I started reading your blogs a few years back, when you first starting writing them." I had been thirteen; a year after Duncan had started his own. "I felt...I don't know..." I could tell he was feeling stupid and embarrassed about opening his heart up to me. Clearly this was new territory for both of us. We'd never had anyone to talk to before.

"Go on...Tell me, its okay."

"I felt as if...As if you understood me." I looked at Duncan, puzzlement plastered on my face. "I mean...I read about how you always got close to people and then...You had to leave. Just like that." Now I was starting to understand.

Duncan and I were similar in that perspective. While I got close to a lot of people and then just left, I had millions of minor pains each and every time. Duncan had grown close to Hunter over the twelve years they had been family and then he had felt one big pain. It balanced in thought, but not in reality. Neither of us liked getting close to people for fear of having to leave.

The two of us stood in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward, it was quite comfortable. But then I realized there was something else we needed to discuss and, while I didn't want it to be at that moment, we needed to talk about it.

"Duncan..." I whispered again, not sure how he was going to take this next piece of news form me.

"Mmm?" He answered, looking straight across at the view again. It was quite a beautiful view and I could see how anyone could get caught up in it.

"I'm not looking for a relationship." I regretted not holding out longer on that as soon as the words had escaped my lips, but Duncan then chuckled. Not even a laugh, a chuckle. It was almost a manly giggle, which was strange, or at least I thought it was.

"Okay, Princess."

"And I'm not looking for a one night stand either." That Duncan laughed at. He couldn't hold it back any longer, I could tell. He hit his head down onto the railings, laughing as loud as he could. I wasn't seeing what was so funny about it, but clearly he was finding something I had said laughable.

"Okay, Princess." He choked out, still laughing behind the words. It was quite irritating not knowing what he was laughing over, but I didn't want to ask. The last thing I needed was to know what he was laughing at.

"And why do you keep calling me Princess?" I asked instead, though I wasn't sure if Duncan was even going to give me a serious answer on that subject. He finally stopped laughing, turning to look at me. His eyes danced around in the dark, giving me a good look up and down. I wasn't sure what he was doing, probably still checking me out even after what we had just talked about.

"I call you Princess," Duncan started, "because I think you're a spoilt brat." I rolled my eyes. Of course he thought something as ridiculous as that. I wasn't a spoilt brat; I worked for everything I had.

Duncan's smirked dropped from his face, as if he was now thinking about something serious. "I also call you Princess because every Princess is a damsel in distress, all in need of saving. And you, Courtney, are in some desperate need of saving."

_'You know what, guys? Scratch out the whole of that last part. Maybe I do mess things up sometimes, but karma balances out. Things always go back to normal afterwards, maybe not as soon as you all hope, but it does work out in the end for everyone. _

_Love and Peace, Girl On The Move'_

A/N: Aww...

Some sort of sweet Duncney for post-V day blues...hahaha!

I did not have a date yesterday, surprise, surprise! I stayed in my room, with my cookie monster PJs and my laptop, phone and iPad. All the company you need, I'm telling you!

Thank you to;

Guest: haha, I know! But they are just super blue...Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: This story holds a lot of precious memories for us, huh? It is our story...I'm not looking to get any of the fics I've written published, just not something for me. Plus, they're all too shit to get published. Why is it in ever review you have to feel the need to mention food? NOW I'M HUNGRY! XD Thanks :D

DxCfanlover: I'm very glad you love it (: Yeah, poor Hunter...I really hurt my characters a lot...haha, it's like the Gods knew it was gonna be sad...Thank you :D

You guys are AWESOME!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	7. Chapter 7

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Seven**

_'Sometimes, things happen and you don't notice it at first. Then, one day, you stop and think and realize that something is different. I'm like that a lot. I get so caught up in the moment; I don't realize anything that goes on around me. _

_Soon, moments turn to minutes, minutes turn hours, hours turn to days, days turn to week and you realize that you have been living in far too many moments to count. _

_Two weeks. I moved to Manhattan two weeks ago today. How has time gone by so fast? How has my mom still not got a date with Matt yet? But I can't complain about that. If my mom doesn't get a date, we don't have to move quite as fast._

_And, I do have to admit, I'm starting to like it here.'_

"That wouldn't have anything to do with me, now, would it Princess?" I turned around as fast I could, practically jumping out of my skin as Duncan whispered in my ear.

"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?" I screamed. Yes, he had been in my bedroom before, but it was usually with my permission. Out of nowhere he had just shown up and watched me typing a blog entry.

"Your window was open," he said, gesturing to the open window that led out to the fire escape. I really did have to start locking that when I was busy. Duncan did have full access to my bedroom otherwise.

I turned back to my laptop. It was sitting on my desk now. Mom had finally agreed to get me one because the High school in Manhattan was giving me a lot more work than any of the others I had attended. I wasn't complaining, I still didn't exactly have friends to hang out with after school, so homework was a nice break from watching TV all the time.

_'And now, my amazing readers, I must go. That annoying guy from upstairs-Yes, TheMadHDude, I'm talking about you- is here.'_

"What do you want, Duncan?" I asked, refusing to look at him this time. "Hello?" I spun around to find myself alone once again; obviously he had gotten the message. And then I discovered my bedroom door was now open. This wasn't going to end well.

"Duncan!" I hissed, spotting him taking a peek out of the living room window. He was so nosy, it was unbelievable. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing..." He sighed, throwing himself down onto the sofa now. He was looking rather depressed and sorry for himself, so I just rolled my eyes. He reached up with his hands, signaling he wanted to hold mine. It was sort of a thing that the two of us had into our systems. We weren't dating, but we held hands, we cuddled, we helped each other out. It was a bit more than friendship, but not quite a relationship. Or friends with benefits! Like my mom called it.

I sighed to myself, reaching out and taking Duncan's hands. His pity soon turned into his lawful smirk, pulling me down to his level. Literally! I landed on top of him on the sofa. Naturally, things could only get worse for me form that moment on. As me and Duncan laid on the sofa, our faces connected directly, my mom had to walk through the door, and not alone either.

"Oh, I see you two want to be alone."

I quickly jumped up from where I was previously situated. My mom and a man I had never set eyes on before were stood in the doorway, both smiling at us.

"T-This isn't what it l-looks like!" I quickly shouted, stumbling over my own words as I tried to clear up the situation. Duncan wasn't exactly helping me, either, as he just sat up and kept on smirking at me.

"Courtney, this is Matt." My mom smiled wide, her eyes flashing me a funny look as she gestured to the man by her. "Matt, this is my eldest daughter Courtney and her boyfriend Duncan-"

"He's not my boyfriend!" I quickly hissed at my mother, before my face softened and I turned to Matt. "He's not my boyfriend."

Matt was actually quite good looking, so I couldn't fault my mother's taste on this one. He was quite tall, around six feet. His hair was black, not shaggy, but not short either. It fell down over his forehead, but not into his beautiful blue eyes. They were dark, very dark blue.

He was still wearing his work uniform; plain black pants and a plain white shirt with his name badge attached over his heart.

"It was nice to meet you, Matt." I smiled. "But I should be making sure Duncan gets home safely." I turned back to the green-haired punk, the boy who I was despising so much right now, and pointed towards my bedroom, "Home."

The two of us marched back to my bedroom, but not before I heard Matt ask, "He lives in her bedroom?"

Sure, I liked Duncan. Duncan was the closest thing I had ever had to a friend, I didn't want to blow it with him and lose out on my only chance at fitting in. Then again, fitting in was never high on my priority list.

"Did you come here for a reason, Duncan?" I asked as the two of us climbed through my window and out to the fire escape. "Or do you just like to break in and annoy?"

"A bit of both, I guess." Duncan shrugged it off like it was nothing, like he usually did. Duncan never mused over something for long. I liked seriousness, Duncan didn't. I gave straight answers, Duncan didn't. I liked asking before entering someone's house, Duncan didn't. We were opposites in every aspect imaginable, so why did I still stick around him?

"And what was the reason?" I asked, folding out my chair and falling into it. Duncan took a seat on the ladder that led up to his apartment, throwing his arms wide and resting his head on the step above.

"I was bored..." He breathed out heavily and I rolled my eyes. Boredom was not a suitable answer in my books.

_'I met Matt today. TheMadHDude ruined it for me, shocker there. But he was nice to me, really nice to me. He didn't seem too fussed over the fact that he had caught me and Duncan face-to-face, me lying on top of him on the sofa. _

_His first impression of me had not been a good one, let's just go with that.'_

"So, Matt." Casey spoke up, swallowing down a lump of pizza. My mom was not the best cook in the world, so we ordered pizza instead. "How old are you?"

The three of us laughed at her, she was only young, she wouldn't have understood. Actually, I'm not so sure I understood, but I just laughed along with it like I did. I wanted to make a good second impression with Matt, especially since the first one didn't go too well.

"I'm thirty-seven." Matt replied confidently. He was really nice to me and Casey, I liked that about him. He didn't seem to be trying, it was just natural.

"Oh, that makes you two years younger than mom."

"Casey!" Mom shouted, but she was giggling about it as she choked on her own pizza slice.

_'The night turned out unexpectly well. It turns out that moms car had broken down and Matt had given her a lift home. She had asked if he wanted to join us for dinner and she refused to take no for an answer. _

_I'm quite glad that I finally did get to meet him, I really hope that Matt does ask mom out on a date soon._

_Oh well, time for bed for me. It's getting late, almost two AM now. Wow. I don't have school due to the fact it is now Saturday, but I'm getting tired. _

_Hey, MadH, no more four AM knocks on my window!_

_Peace and love, Girl On The Move.'_

A/N: This is quite a short chapter, I know...But I should be praised for my quick update!

Plus I can't really make it any longer without spilling into the next chapter and then it would be too long for my liking!

HOWEVER! The next chapter is probably my favourite; can you guess what it is? ;)

My favourite line from this entire story is 'He lives in her bedroom?'  
I crack up at my own jokes...hah! Someone has to ._.

I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A SLEEPOVER RIGHT NOW WITH THATSUPERHOTSEXYBOOKWORM! I SHOULD GET BACK TO WATCHING THE MOVIE! WE'RE WATCHING THE THING! I LOVE IT! ONE OF THE FEW HORROR FILMS I CAN STAND TO WATCH ON MY OWN! ANYWAY! BACK TO SLEEPOVER I GO!

Thank you to;

LuluKaty: Patience young warrior...XD Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Here comes the food comments again...EW! FRENCH TOAST! The only thing better than lying in bed and texting is watching scary films and vid-chatting XD Thanks :D

DxCfanlover: Any time, sweetie! Now that right there sounds like the perfect day! And scarily how I have been spending every day since December 19th, actually...I like trying to think of new ways to represent Duncan and Courtney, originality is the best XD haha, hurting characters is quite fun...Thank you :D

YOU GUYS ROCK AND RULE!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	8. Chapter 8

**Girl On The Move **

**Chapter Eight**

"Soooo," I smiled subtly as I leaned across the kitchen table, gazing up at my mother with interested eyes. She was dragging a damp cloth across the kitchen counters, humming an old tune to herself. "When are you going to see Matt again?" It was her day off, so I had to ask. I made it my business to know these sorts of things. Especially now things had sort of been fixed with Duncan, I needed to know how far I could take this friendship.

I also really liked Matt. He hadn't been what I was expecting him to be. He was kind-faced and good-hearted. There was nothing else you could ask for from him. He looked like he would treat my mother well and he liked to laugh and joke about with Casey. To me, he was perfect. Well, perfect compared to the scum I knew she had dated in the past. Even mom knew some of them were total scum and refused to introduce them to Casey, though I had met them (and agreed in her decision to keep them from sister). I asked her once why he associated herself with such men, to which she replied, 'Princes Charming was at first a frog.'

"He's picking me up in the morning, so we can go get my car from the garage." After the break down the day before, it had been towed back to a garage and worked on over a course of two nights for some reason. I have never been very technical about cars or what-not, so I didn't have the slightest clue. I didn't actually drive myself.

However, this did mean that if I wanted to go anywhere, I was going to have to walk. Though, I wasn't quite sure where I would go as I had restricted myself to the school bus, school and the apartment for the past two weeks. I hadn't really had a chance to go out and visit any place, though I wouldn't even know where to begin. Manhattan was a big city and I had sort of gotten used to living in small towns.

"Oh, and Casey is at a friend's house for the night." She quickly added, grabbing the laundry basket as she headed out the door to go to the basement. That was a downside to where we lived: communal laundry room. But, yes, my baby sister had managed to make a few friends. She may have been very good at it, but the girls she came home talking about seemed a lot nicer than the ones I was dealing with every day. She probably already had a whole gang around her while I barely had Duncan.

It was five-thirty. The night was starting to draw in on us once more, only making it one more day that I had wasted in a place I may never see again. It wasn't official that we were moving again, but the chances were that we eventually would, no matter how nice Matt was.

"So, you have the place to yourself tomorrow." She gave me a wink as she re-entered our apartment and my face flushed bright red. I could feel my cheeks burning; no doubt my mother noticed it too. The chances were that Duncan was going to come over as he came over every day, for the most part. Sometimes we would just sit on the fire escape of one of our floors or sometimes on our own fire escapes, just talking back and forth. However, if we had the place to ourselves, I wasn't even going to question what my mother had in mind. I simply rolled my eyes at her and left the room, returning back to my safe haven.

I walked in, picking up the end of my duvet and making my bed the way it was supposed to be made. My mother never made her own bed, so where did I get such a good sense of cleanliness? Some people swore I had OCD. It's a mental disorder in which you like everything being clean, like me.

"BOO!" I jumped out of my wits, hopping up on the bed as I turned around to face my attacker. Of course, only one person it could be was Duncan. I had been facing the window. I would have seen him coming in. In the heat of my confusion and his smirking, I turn back to see the window already wide open. I hadn't even noticed before. He clearly must have snuck in, hid and waited for me. Its times like that which made me hate him.

"Come on," he says, holding his hand out to me. I didn't take it at first, still looking at him with my puzzled expression on my face. I wasn't quite sure if he meant it as in 'get off the bed' or if he meant it as in 'we're going back onto the fire escape to get some privacy'.

I jumped down from my bed by myself, only to have Duncan stick his hand in mine and drag me off towards the fire escape. I should have known it was the second one. He never likes sticking around in my room for long, maybe because the pink and girliness of it all may bring down his image. Or so I could imagine.

But Duncan didn't stay on my fire escape; he climbed up the rusting ladder to his own, calling for me to follow him. I did, not paying a lot of attention, just climbing up the ladder. But when I read his fire escape, I notice he was not there.

I looked at the window, but I heard my name being called, _"Courtney." _Looking upwards, instantly knowing where the voice is coming from, I see Duncan now hovering over the next fire escape above his own.

"What are you doing?" I hiss at him, knowing he'd get in trouble for being up there. It may have been a fire escape, but it was still part of someone's home.

"Come on." He repeated, turning away. I could hear the noise and feel the shaking; he was climbing up the next ladder too.

I looked around frantically, hoping no one was watching me as I shakily climbed up the ladder. I kept on climbing. I kept going on up, hoping to catch up to Duncan, but we was far out of sight. It wasn't like we had a long way to climb, around ten sets of ladders above Duncan's. It was a good thing that our apartment block wasn't as tall as some of the others. I lived on the eleventh floor, Duncan on the twelfth. That meant that Duncan was planning on going straight up, all the way to the top as there was only around twenty-two floors anyway.

I never thought it was going to end, not even bothering to look up anymore. I just kept on climbing, until a hand stuck itself out in front of me. I almost fell back down, but I managed to not lose my footing or my grip on the antique steps. Looking up, I found the hand attached to Duncan. He was staring down at me with serious eyes, but I still didn't take his hand. I preferred to climb up by myself.

I swung my body over the top of the ladder, making sure I was securely on the roof before getting to my feet. I was too busy trying to make myself look presentable in my pajamas that I hadn't even bothered to take off from the night before.

My vision was obstructed by a pair of warm hands flying over my hands. I froze on the spot, praying that it was Duncan. "So, you followed me then, Princess." Yes, it was definitely Duncan.

_'Well, guys...What can I say? Today I learnt a valuable lesson'_

"Come on, Court." My supposed friend whispered in my ear, "I have something to show you."

_'The things you expect the least, always take your breath away when they arrive...'_

I could feel Duncan pushing me forward, but not forcefully. I smile, hoping he couldn't see. Well, he was behind me, so I assumed he couldn't. I held my hands out for good measure, hoping that Duncan didn't push me over the edge or something. Though, I did see that as one of the possibilities.

"Ready?" _Ready for what?_ But I didn't question Duncan aloud, only repeated his word to show that I was. And I was. I could feel concrete under fingers, most likely the barrier that stopped people from falling off the roof of the apartment building. Other than that, I had no clues as to what I was being shown. Duncan, sensing my nerves and excitement, removed his hands from my face. At first, my vision was slightly blurred from where his hands had forced my eyelids violently shut, and as my pupils dilated back to their normal size, I could hardly see a thing.

But then I saw it.

The whole of Manhattan was at my fingertips as I looked at the view I could see form the top of the apartment building. The view was a lot better than the one on from my fire escape. It showed not only the buildings in front, but all of the surrounding buildings too. The skyscrapers that touched the darkened clouds, the late night traffic that looked like fireflies dancing on the ground. But, the best part of it? The sunset. It tainted the whole scene orange. It was beautiful, breathtaking. I had never seen anything so amazing in my life.

"Hunter brought me up here before..." I could hear Duncan mumbling beside me. "I promised him I would only ever come up here if I felt necessary to escape." I didn't understand why Duncan was sharing this information with me at first. "And I still do need to escape, Courtney, but I want to escape with you." And then I understood. We may not have been facing each other and I may not have said anything in reply, but we both understood. I felt Duncan's hand brush against mine, so I grabbed it, finally taking it in my own. It was just the perfect setting. Almost too perfect, but I never questioned it as the two of us silently watched the sun fall down behind the city.

_'And that, my lovely readers, is what happens when you try something new. I made a new friend, one I will keep with me for life, and I got to experience...Well, THAT! It was perfect._

_...have I said perfect too many times already?_

_I wish I could share the exact moment with you guys, but it's sort of something that only I and Duncan share now. And Hunter, of course. _

_Well, the sun has set and the end of yet another Manhattan day has drawn on me. I have to be curious as to how many more I will get to see._

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move.'_

A/N: ...I can't put words together right now, so bear with me.

This was super cute and heart breaking...Heart breaking for me because I know what happens...

I also read The Fault In Our Stars today, the whole book from start to finish.  
How did it go? Let me tell you this...My mother, who is an avid book reader like myself, took one look at my crying face and said 'I am not reading that'. I was in hysterics in the living room. Okay...only half over the book, but still in hysterics.

I hate books. I want it said here and now that I hate books. They crush your soul and make you question your very existence.

I'm going through a bad phase right now, guys. I'm trying. But no one knows how to handle me when I get bad...instead I just get yelled at and made to feel guilty for feeling this way, as if it's my fault. I can't chose to feel happy and people blame me for it.

I'm feeling better today-well, this afternoon, this morning was bad-than I have all week...Still not too good, though.

Thank you to;

NoH8-make-a-rainbow: Sweet and sentimental DxC is the best kind ^^ Thank you (:

LuluKay: I'm glad you like it (: Thanks (:

Coderrafan4: Was this as good as anticipated? ;) Thank you (:

DxCfanlover: I WISH I had an annoying neighbour like Duncan, it would be so cool! hahaha! I don't usually laugh at my own jokes, but that one always puts a smile on my face XD THE THING IS AWESOME! Ya know, I have never had a taco...we do not have them in the UK, sadly :( Thanks (:

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Lion King is awesome. Whenever you wanna watch it, I'm ready. UGH! 29 days until my birthday...I'm dying...I don't want it to come! Ha, you always find one story of mine to hate on ;) I can't remember the last time I made breakfast in bed for my mother...Never done it for my dad...Was years ago now, she's always up before me...Thank you (:

: HELLO! Well, for once Google Translate seems to have translated something right, haha! Sadly unless your first language is Welsh then I can't speak it, but I thank you for reading this story even if you don't speak English. Having non-English speaking fans makes me feel a little better about myself for some reason. Thank you (:

Wow...You guys went all out on the reviews for last chapter!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	9. Chapter 9

_**Girl On The Move**_

_**Chapter Nine**_

_'I'm worried. I know, I know, you guys think that I worry a lot anyway, you tell me that all the time, but this time I really am worried. We have been here in Manhattan for four weeks now. That's one whole month! I'm scared to think that we've become too settled. Daily routines have kicked in. Casey has made a whole group of friends. Mom is still chasing after Matt. Maybe things are settling down? Or maybe not! I hope they are. Why? Because we're all so deep into things this time that...That I hope we don't have to leave' _

"Mom!" I called from my bedroom. "MOM!" I called even louder when she refused to reply. "MOM! ARE YOU OUT OF THE SHOWER YET?" Still no reply.

Groaning under my breath, I turned around on my chair, knowing I had to go track her down myself. She may have still very well been in the shower, but I had a feeling that she wasn't. I knew she would have already been in her room, angrily go through her wardrobe.

I was right.

Leaning myself against the doorframe, I watched as my mother went through every dress she owned. It was her regular routine to go through before a date. Of course, Matt wasn't fully aware it was a date. He had asked her if the three of us had wanted to go out for dinner tonight as a thank you for dinner the other night, but my mother had insisted that Casey was never well behaved in fancy restaurants and I was a usual frumpy teenager, and she would have hated to embarrass him. That was a lie. She just wanted the two to be alone together, but poor Casey and I got the bad end of it.

"Mom, calm down." I smiled, walking forward and scanning the possible list of dresses she had out on her bed. They were all very pretty, all very perfect, but I wasn't sure if they were ones I would pick out for a first date.

"Oh, Court." She sighed, flopping down in the empty space that was now on her bed as I placed all of the dresses back in their rightful places, "What am I going to do?"

"Your make-up." I replied, tossing her the small purple case and pointing towards the bathroom. She rolled her eyes and I knew that wasn't what she had meant. But I needed her to at least try and go on a first date with Matt. I liked him. I thought he could work very well as a reason for us to stay in Manhattan. Okay, so I was never much fussed on Manhattan as a whole. I complained about it enough times in a day. But there was just something about it that made me never want to leave. If it was Duncan, Matt or just the fact I never wanted to see cardboard boxes fill up my empty bedroom again, I still wanted to stay.

"Oh God, Courtney..." My mother sighed, flopping down on the bed. Her make-up looked great. If there was something I couldn't fault my mom for, it was her great beauty skills. "What if I mess up? What if he doesn't like me? Maybe this is a bad idea..."

"MOM!" She instantly turned to look at me, her eyes already full of sorrow. And the date hadn't even had a chance to be horrible yet! "Come on, mom..." I sighed too, knowing exactly how to win this battle. "Me and Casey both want you to be happy...You're not going to be happy unless you give a first date a try, right?" I had been in this situation a few times before. "Please, mom. Just go out with Matt. For me...For Casey. Please."

"Courtney..." She lifted her hand up, cupping my face in her palm. We just stared at each other. I tried my best to push the puppy dog look forward, though it wasn't the most practiced look I had.

I really did want my mother to go out on a date with Matt. I know I had never been very supportive of her other boyfriends in the past, maybe because I had never really liked any of them. All men were the same. They wanted sex. And, as much as it disgusts me, I know they got it. I'm pretty sure that's how I came to have a little sister, too.

My dad wasn't like that, though. My parents had been in a relationship for three years before I had come along. I knew that for a fact. Though, mom never liked to talk about it, she had mentioned it a few times when I was younger. She thought I wouldn't have understood, but she was wrong. I knew what the slammer was even at the age of six. My dad was in jail.

"You look beautiful, mommy!" Casey cooed, brushing her blonde hair from her face with mom's comb. Casey loved to play make-up and dress up. Her new favorite game was beautician. She liked to try and get me to join in too. I usually jammed something underneath the door handle in my bedroom.

"Thank you, Case." My mother smiled, smoothing down her purple dress. It was elegant, but subtle. Fancy, but casual. It was perfect, but...Perfect!

Out of all of mom's boyfriends, I liked Matt the best so far. Okay. So I didn't know him that well, but I did know he was the best around me and Casey. Most guys ran for the hills when they found out about me and my sister. Or they would try to buy our affection with 'expensive' gifts. Or they would treat us like four year olds. Or they would just ignore us. I was quite happy with the ignored part. Mom wasn't.

_'Since I knew I would be babysitting Casey tonight, I made sure to invite Duncan around. The last thing I needed was to be stuck with only my sister for company.'_

Duncan, being the suck-up he always was, wolf whistled as soon as he laid eyes on my mother. She, being the nice person she was, slapped him in the stomach with her clutch bag. They hadn't known each other that long, but Duncan was around so much he was sort of becoming part of the family. Like an old friend that was closer to you than anyone else-even though I don't have one of them.

"Make sure Casey doesn't stay up too late." Mom reminded me for the millionth time. "And make sure she doesn't watch anything she's not supposed to."

"FRIDAY THIRTEENTH!" Came Casey's all too high pitched voice from her bedroom. "IT'S ON TONIGHT!"

"And you're not watching it!" Mom shouted back at her, adjusting her earrings. She did look very beautiful. I had made a special effort on tying up her hair in a certain braid I had learnt to do online when I was a bit younger. Back then I had, had Casey to practice on.

"Mom, we'll be fine." I assured her. And I knew it would be. I had babysat Casey a lot of times before. We hadn't needed a babysitter for three years! We were going to be fine, whether my mother believed it or not.

_'By the time Matt arrived tonight, mom was bouncing off the walls! She was so excited to be finally going on a first date. I was excited to see her go on a first date! She definitely took her time getting this one. Mom usually has a first date within the first two weeks. It has been a month!'_

"MAAAAAATT!" Casey screamed, coming running towards him. He easily scooped her up into his arms. Regardless of her age, Casey was on the very small side. She was short and she weighed practically nothing. She was like a human rag doll.

"Did you bring me anything?" She instantly asked, always thinking of herself.

"_Casey!_" Mom scolded.

Matt dropped Casey onto the floor, crouching down to her level. He was looking quite smart himself; black jeans, tidy shirt that wasn't buttoned the whole way up. He was even clean shaven.

"You know what, Case?" Matt asked, "I forgot to get you something!" Casey didn't like that. She was practically a spoilt brat. Casey, despite the little amount of money the family lived off, always got a lot of things that she wanted. I never asked for much, just a laptop and privacy.

"Oh..." She sighed.

I rolled my eyes at my sister, but I did keep a watchful one on Matt as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. I had no idea what he was doing at first, but then he pulled out a twenty and thrusted it into Casey's hands. She cupped it gently, Matt clasping his hands around Casey's.

"This money, Casey, is yours to use." Matt told her in a soft whisper, "But it has to be put to good use...For example, using it to treat you, your sister and her boyfriend to a pizza or a movie from Blockbuster."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"I'm not her boyfriend."

"Her friend with benefits then," Matt replied with a wink.

I could feel my face growing redder and I'm sure Duncan's was too, though I couldn't bear to look at him. I knew my mother was giggling and Matt was probably smiling his ass off now. Casey was just confused. She was eight; did any of us expect her to even know what friends with benefits meant?

"Come on, Matt." My mother spoke up, her giggle still clear in her voice. "Let's leave before we lose Courtney to the wall." Of course, the wall I was stood next to just happened to be red.

_'Once mom and Matt were out of the way, nothing changed. We spent Casey's money on Pizza and, against mom's advice, did watch Friday Thirteenth. Casey wasn't scared. Casey was fearless when it came to things like that. I knew she was, I had been making her watch horror movies with me ever since we were young._

_It was only once Casey was all tucked up in bed at 11:30 PM did things get...A bit more interesting, shall we say.'_

"Goodnight," I whispered to Casey, switching off the light with one hand and shutting the door with the other. She may have been eight years old and not needed me to tuck her in at night, but I always felt better when I did it. Especially when mom wasn't around.

I walked back to the main room in the apartment where I had left Duncan to slouch on the sofa once the movie had finished and the pizza was long gone. He was still there, sitting on the sofa. He had one hand on his knee and his other arm stretched out on the back of the sofa.

His grin spoke a thousand to me as he cocked his head. His blue eyes looked brighter than usual in the dimmed-light. I did have an urge to turn the lights up, but an even greater one to keep them just the way they were. It was more romantic that way. _Not that I wanted any romantic involvements with Duncan!_

Who was I kidding? Of course I wanted a romantic involvement with Duncan and I knew he felt the same way. I had never had a boyfriend before, I was scared. I was scared of ruining our friendship. I was scared that this first date between my mother and Matt would end in a disaster, meaning I would have to move away again and probably never see Duncan ever again.

But my brain was not fathoming any of that as I watched Duncan from the other side of the room. I smiled slightly as our eyes remained locked. Duncan patted the seat beside him with the hand that had been on his knee, and who was I to resist? I walked across the rest of the room and sat down beside him, trying to get as close as possible.

Resting my head on his shoulder as I tucked my knees up behind me, I felt right. Even as Duncan wrapped both of his arms around my waist and rested his forehead against mine at an odd angle, I felt right. I felt as if that was where I was supposed to be.

"You tired, Princess?" He asked in hushed tones. I nodded, closing my eyes just to prove it. "Should I help wake you up?" He asked-more like growled. I didn't even have time to react before he started kissing my skin.

It started at my forehead, the place where he had been resting his face just a second earlier. His lips travelled down the right side of my face, stopping at my ear and biting down a little. I gasped; Duncan kept on kissing his way down to my chin. Damn, this boy was experienced.

"You awake, yet?" I could feel his smirk on my cheek, but I refused to open my eyes to look at him. "I'll take that as a no, then."

Duncan placed two of his fingers on my other cheek and gently pushed my face towards him. But he wasted no time getting to it. His lips crashed onto mine and I felt myself pushing back. It was rough, a lot like out first kiss, only I had been expecting this one.

"Duncan..." I managed to choke out between breathlessness and Duncan's chapped lips.

"Come on, Princess." He replied, his smirk still placed perfectly on his lips, "We are friends with benefits after all." I smiled in response, quite glad that Matt had said it earlier now. It gave me and Duncan some sort of excuse to be doing what we were. And I couldn't have been happier with that moment.

_'It was a good night. Duncan stayed over; the two of us fell asleep on the sofa around 2 AM. Nothing happened between us! Before anyone even wants to ask that question...We just had a nice and relaxed tongue war on the sofa ;) _

_For once, I am quite glad that mom stayed out all night. She came home around an hour ago, but Duncan and I were awake by then. Casey was still unconscious in bed. No nightmares had plagued her, like mom had feared. _

_The only problem now is how confused I am about my feelings..._

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move'_

A/N: Damn it!

Sorry about the-HOLY SHIT! I JUST STARTED CHOKING ON MY GUM!

Anyway, sorry about the lack of updating, I've had a...weird two or three weeks...Have some Duncan and Courtney making out to make up for it...DxC MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND! I'm pretty sure of it...XD haha!

I totally forgot I had them down as friends with benefits...It has been a while since I wrote this story!

Being friends with benefits while being a teenager is...awkward, to say the least...I mean, when you're an adult you have your own place and can do what you like with who you like and no one really has to know. While you're a teenager who still lives with their parents, it's kind of hard to explain that this guy is just your friend while you're actually going at it up in your bedroom...

heh...heh...

I'm suddenly glad a certain few people don't read my stories XD

Thank you to;

DxCfanlover: YAY! FREQUENCY! XD haha, well I'm glad you like this story enough to keep returning to it :D Phew, I hope that means my descriptions are getting better! haha, I have to hate on books! They make you think they're so full of awesomeness and joy, but they're not! They are tricksters who rip out your heart and stomp repeatedly on it! I know! I need to have a taco! It is on my bucket list! Thank you :D

Coderrafan4: hahaha! Duncan, keep his hands where you can see them? I find that unlikely XD haha! Thanks :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Yay! Scary movies! YOU NEED TO WATCH DREAM HOUSE! I fell in love with it...I have pushed back my Maximum Ride reading! I have Clockwork Princess coming out now, then Light a few days later, then Aaron is giving me a book series called Demon Trappers and I have decided I need to read Beautiful Creatures this summer and then Maximum Ride in autumn, House of Hades in October and Divergent for Christmas! I feel pretty awesome that I have planned all that out XD Thank you :D

LuluKaty: It is too romantic, it's sickly sweet =P haha! Oooh...Good question...I will be honest and say I DO NOT KNOW! I never know what happens in a chapter until I open it up to edit XD Thanks :D

LOVE YOU GIRLS!  
...Should probably say guys, not girls...Are any of you dudes? I am just assuming ya'll are girls...

Thank for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	10. Chapter 10

**Girl On The Move **

**Chapter Ten**

_'Sometimes in your life there will be times when you get mad at your parents. Can everyone understand that? I'm pretty sure most teenagers do. I get mad at my mom every time we move, you all know that. I am pretty sure I rant and rave about it enough on top of all the other parenty things she does._

_However, today was a different experience. Today I was pissed at my mom for a reason I had never been pissed at her for before; my father.'_

"You know, you can clutch that head of yours all you like," I told my mother, smiling as I swept up the breakfast bowls, throwing them into the sink, "I know you're not hung-over!"

My mother's head slipped straight onto the kitchen table, her blonde hair covering her head. She was a good actress, I will give her that. But I knew that she was only pretending to be hung-over. She wasn't the sort of person who got drunk on the first date. And she most certainly wasn't hung-over when she came through the apartment door earlier that morning.

Of course, at that point I was too embarrassed that she had found me and Duncan on the sofa, we may have been awake but I was cuddled into his chest and his arms were wrapped around me.

"Whatever, Court," she moaned, getting to her feet. "I'm going back to bed."

"Didn't get much sleep last night, then?" I called after her.

"Not as much as you." She called back.

That was how mom and I worked for the most part. We just liked to annoy each other. We were closer than mother and daughter, we were friends. Growing up I never had too many friends. But I always had my mom to turn to after a rough day. Before Casey was born, we were all each other had to depend on. We were close.

"I'm going to go get the mail!" I shouted, shaking my head as I pulled out the hair tie. I looked like a mess in my pajamas, but mail was an important part of Saturday mornings. It meant we got the rent bill, but mom also got her paycheck. We got letters from grandma who couldn't use a phone, but we also got money for me and Casey to get some new things for ourselves too. It was sort of a win-win situation with Saturday mail.

"No, Courtney, wait!" My mother shouted after me just before I shut the door. "I'll get it, don't worry."

"You're hung-over," I replied, pointing towards her bedroom, "BED!"

"Cour-"

"No!" I told my mother a bit too sternly, "You're the one who said you were hung-over. Now, unless you were lying to me, which I would be disgusted if you were, you need to rest! Go back to bed and sleep for a few more hours. I can quite easily walk downstairs and get the mail myself."

My mother stared at me. Well, it was more of a 'why don't you ever listen to me' sort of glare, but I ignored it. She finally caved. Mom always caved after a while. She wasn't exactly good at the whole parenting thing.

"Fine..." She whispered at first, staring down at the floor before whipping her face to stare straight back at me again, "But you bring those letters straight back to me, alright?" I nodded, not really knowing what else to do. I had never seen mom quite that strict before. She never ordered me and Casey around like other mother's would have, she was kinder than that. She let us have our freedom. Mainly because she didn't quite know how to discipline us. The most she had ever done was send us to our rooms, but that was more of a when we performed in public when we were younger. Mom would never actually ground us for anything or take away our possessions.

I didn't see what she was fussing over when it came to the mail, but I wasn't going to defy her. She wanted to see the mail first, that was fine. It was actually the first time I had ever collected the mail on a weekend, I usually picked it up on my way home after school, but by the time I got up most Saturday mornings she had already collected it for herself. I never questioned it; my mother had always been an early riser.

She wasn't one to go out on Friday nights, either, which was why last night was sort of a shock. She preferred Saturday nights, so that way at least if she didn't like the date, she didn't have to go out with him again the night after. She always had the excuse of work and getting the two of us to school. That went out the window with Matt last night and I guess I could understand why.

I managed to walk all the way down to the apartment block lobby without running into anyone I knew. That was good. I wasn't in the mood for a long chat with any of my neighbors. But, naturally, Duncan had to be entering the building right then with the rest of his family.

"Morning," Duncan smiled, winking at me. Luckily he was ahead of the rest of his family, meaning they couldn't see. I may have died a whole new death if they had.

"Good morning," I smile politely before turning towards the cubby holes. There were a few letters under my apartment's name, so I pulled them all out and quickly skimmed through to make sure they were all under the right address. They were.

"Good night?" I heard Duncan purring in my ear, his hands finding their way to my waist. I blushed, but he couldn't see. His forehead was resting against my temple, the way it had done last night. I could still feel the tingles up my spine as he seemed to pull me closer and closer towards him.

I choked back my emotions, not wanting to get swept up in Duncan. I wasn't going to be staying in Manhattan for much longer. I knew I wouldn't be staying in Manhattan for more than a few months. It would only be worse for Duncan if we had a thing going between us at the time of my departure. Chances were, if I left, I was never going to see him again.

"Duncan-"

"Hey, that letter is addressed to you." He pointed down to the pile in my hand and, sure enough, there was a letter a little out of place from the rest with my name written in perfect handwriting; Courtney. And when I pulled it out, I realized it wasn't from someone who knew me well; Courtney Taylor. No one called me Courtney Taylor.

"I thought your name was Courtney Madison," Duncan told me, his brow creased.

"I-It's...Complicated..." My face fell as I spoke the last word. My mind had come to a complete halt. Deep down I knew who the letter was from. There was really only one person in the world who called me Courtney Taylor, everyone else called me Courtney Madison. And he was the last person I ever wanted to hear from.

Without speaking a word to Duncan, I ran straight up to the apartment. He chased me, but I was too fast for him. I was in a rush to sit down before I fainted. This was all too soon, all too sudden for me. Why was my father contacting me now? There was no reason for him to contact me at all. He had wanted nothing to do with me in thirteen years.

"Courtney!" Duncan panted, but I never stopped until I had run into the apartment. I left the door wide open and Duncan ran in after me, clutching his side and wheezing very heavily. I was too busy looking down at the envelope in my hand. I had already tossed the rest on the table as soon as I got in.

**SLAM! **

Duncan collapsed against the door, making it shut very loudly behind him.

"Courtney?" My mother called from the bedroom, "Court, is that you?" She came rushing out of her bedroom, looking slightly better than when I left. At least she was dressed now. "Duncan?" She looked at him first; collapsed on the floor he was probably more of a concern than I was. But this was all sub-conscious to me. I was too busy studying the writing. I had to make sure it was addressed to me, which it was. I lived in Manhattan. I lived in Oakland Apartments. I lived in apartment 12C. I was Courtney Taylor. This letter was definitely for me.

"Courtney-" She froze up, just like I had. She knew exactly what I was holding in my hand, only confirming my suspicions. "Courtney...Baby...Sweetheart...Honey...Courtney, please give me that letter."

I turned to face my mother, my face confused, "Why?" I asked, "It's addressed to me, it's my letter. Why should I give it to you?" I think I slightly confused my mother too. She knew I knew who it was from and she hadn't been expecting me to know. How should I have known? But there was just some part of me that did.

"Courtney..."

"Mom," I replied. "I-I want to read it."

"No. No you don't" My mother told me.

"Why not?" I asked. "Why wouldn't I want to read it? It's addressed to me, isn't it? Despite what you want everyone to believe, I'm Courtney Taylor. I want to know what this letter says..."

"Then why haven't you opened it already?"

I froze again. As much as it may have seemed sometimes, my mother wasn't an idiot. She knew that I was scared. I hadn't heard off my father since...I had never heard anything from my father. He got locked up when I was three and was yet to be released. I didn't even know what he had done. Maybe the letter would explain it to me, I didn't know.

"Courtney...Give me the letter, please, darling." Why was my mother acting this way? I know that she only wanted to protect me, but it was still my life. I wanted a father. I had always wanted a father; she knew I did, so why did she not want me to read the letter?

_'And, if anyone doesn't know how my life runs by now; it only gets worse from there.'_

"Courtney...You don't want to read that. It'll be just like the res-You don't want to read it."

"The rest?" I questioned, looking back to my mother now. "There are more?" My mother never replied, but I knew I was right. "You've been taking letters that are addressed to me and reading them?" My mother seemed lost for words. Even more so as I stood up. "How long has this been going on for? How many letters were there? _**WHY**_ did you do it? Are you aware that it is against the law to open mail that isn't addressed to you?"

"C-Courtney-"

"NO!" I screamed, "I don't want any of the usual excuses! I want the truth!"

"Court-"

"NO!" I screamed again, my voice breaking. "I-I don't want to hear it...I-I don't want to hear it _now_." I wasn't sure if I was angry or sad, but I most definitely didn't want to be around her at that moment.

"Okay..." She held her hand in defense against me, "We'll talk about this when you've calmed down."

"YOU BET WE WILL!" I shouted after my mother as she disappeared into her bedroom once more.

_'And now I don't know whether to trust my mother or not ever again. _

_I'm sorry...I'm not entirely sure why I am expressing this through the online where it isn't so private. Well, I guess I can trust all of you. It's not like I have ever met any of you (Minus Duncan)._

_Speaking of Duncan, he was okay in the end. After his breathing wasn't so fast and his pulse had returned to a normal pace, he was able to calm down and I was able to tell him everything. _

_And no, before anyone wishes to ask, I have not read the letter yet. I really am scared to open it. I don't know what my father has written. I'm not sure if I want to know what he's written. My life is just too fast paced at the moment._

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move.'_

"COURTNEY!" Casey shouted from the kitchen, "DINNER!"

_'Have you parents ever given you the silent treatment? My mother never has before. Not until now, at least. It's as if I'm the one who has done something wrong. But, if I remember from my day correctly, I am not the one who has hidden thousands upon thousands of letters from her daughter her entire life in a box labeled 'Sex Toys'. Yes. You can only imagine my reaction...'_

I slammed down the lid on my laptop, not caring if the screen was smashed or not. If my mother cared enough, she could easily buy me a new one. Or at least that was the state of mind I was in. My mother had ruined my life for me. My whole life I had been secretly dreaming of meeting my father one day, no matter how much I tried to tell everyone that I didn't need him.

Dinner was eaten in silence. Ever since Duncan's mother had grounded him for leaving the apartment without telling her about an hour previous, I had felt so very alone. I needed someone to talk to, but I had no one now. That was one of the downsides to moving a lot; forever alone. All of my friends-if I ever made any in the previous place-had stayed in that previous place.

"Courtney, why are you mad?" Casey was truly innocent. She hadn't done anything wrong, but she could clearly spot the tension that was circling in the air. The sneaky glances that me and my mother were shooting across the table at each other clearly weren't that subtle. I'm not sure what Casey was thinking had happened, but I'm sure that she didn't know the truth.

"Casey, go finish your homework."

"Bu-"

"No buts!" Mom snapped at her. Casey looked like she was about to cry, which she probably would have if she had stayed at the dinner table for much longer. But Casey did as she was told and sulked off to her bedroom.

There was a rough silence in the air again, the two of us just continuously staring at each other. What was I to do? She had been almost lying to me for most of my life. Well, it wasn't so much as lying, but it felt just as bad. She had kept letters that were addressed to me from me! It hurt to think that my mother would do something like that to me for her own defense. But she had.

"How many are there?"

"A-A few..." I nodded my head.

"Can I have them?" That stirred a nerve. I know my mother was going to have a hard time with handing everything over, but I needed her to deal with it. I had a strong need to read every single letter that had been addressed to me from day one.

My mother got up and motioned for me to follow her, but I didn't. I stayed at the table and waited for her to bring everything back to me. And she did. But the wait between the time my mother entered her bedroom to the time she dropped that cardboard box on the table was agonizing. I still hadn't read the last letter, how was I supposed to read the rest? But I wanted to read them from start to finish. It was like a story to me; I wanted to know how it started and I needed to know how it ended.

"Sex toys?" I read in disgust.

"I had to make sure that if you did ever find this box then you wouldn't look in it."

"You didn't have to..." I mumbled, trying not to look at my mother. I knew that in normal circumstances she would have rolled her eyes at me, but these were not the sort of circumstances that she should have been doing it in. The only thing that was stopping me from being beyond pissed off at that point was the fact that she hadn't tried to deny me the rest of the letters.

"H-How many are in here?" I asked, completely overwhelmed by the fact that she had been hiding so many from me all these years, "When did...h-he start sending them?" I should have said dad in that sentence, but I didn't. I was still having a hard time coming to the fact that he had been sending me so many letters over the years. He had wanted to contact me. How had he even got our addresses every time we moved? Why was he sending me all these letters? What did these letters say? Was he sorry for not being there for me? Was he aware that I was now sixteen? Did he know I had a little sister? Did he know, did he know, did he know. So many questions ran around and around in my mind. And there was only one way to answer them.

"One a week since your eighth birthday." She whispered it quietly but it still made my blood run cold as I thought about how long my mother had been keeping the letters from me. I was almost seventeen years old!

"Hey," Duncan called out behind me. I turned to face him, knowing that he had once again snuck out without his parents' permission. "What are you...?" But his voice trailed off. It took me a few minutes to realize that even Duncan could read. My eyes went wide and my face went red; did he really think what I thought he was thinking?

"The box does not contain what it says it does!" I quickly stammered out, not knowing what to think next now. Duncan's mind was as dirty as I had ever come across, I didn't really want him thinking anything was happening. Ever.

Duncan jumped up on the table, his butt hitting down with a crunch as he landed on whatever food item he had stolen before leaving his own apartment. His face started down into the box with disbelief at the amount, though he did say nothing.

"That's..." I closed my eyes, doing the math in my mind. "That's four hundred and fifty two letters!" Okay, I was a nerd when it came to quick mathematics, but it did come in handy at times such as this.

There was a loud knock on the door as I dove straight into the letters. I didn't really care for who was there; I was more interested in trying to work out what order the letters went in to bother thinking about who was at the door.

"Who is it?" My mother shouted, her eyes following my hands as I picked up letters and read the address' to get some sort of realization about it all. All of the address'-millions of address'-that brought back memories for me. Some painful, others even more so.

"Prince Charming." I stopped and dropped the letters I had in my hands. Matt. Of course, he only had to show up now. But I did crack a smile. Matt could make me smile quite easily for some reason. I guess it had always been that feeling that if the guy was good enough for my mother, good enough for my sister, he was good enough for me. And Matt was definitely good enough.

"Come in!" Mom called out to him and he entered the apartment quietly. I know him and mom had only had a date last night, but they had been getting close at work for a while, so close in fact that my mother had called Matt before dinner and asked him to come over because she was worried. Worried for what? Me. My mother was worried that I would never talk to her again, that I would never forgive her for what she had done. Of course I would have forgiven her eventually. I was mad, I was pissed off, but I still loved my mother to pieces. I just wanted her to know what she had done to me.

"What's-Am I interrupting?" Yes, another genius in our apartment that could read. Duncan burst into a fit of manly giggles whilst pretending that he wasn't. My mother's face went bright red, the way I had when Duncan entered. I just face-palmed myself. That was all I had left to do in the end.

_'I've got all the letters in my possession now, at least. Me and Duncan had spent the rest of the night sorting the letters into a lot of different piles according to address and then, using the list of address' I had lived at that I added to every time I moved, we sorted them into an order on the floor from start to finish. _

_I'll start reading them tomorrow...I am not going into school; I am staying home and reading as many letters as I can. I want to know everything from the beginning._

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move'_

A/N: This was super long.

I am not going to talk today because I know I'll say something I will regret posting on the internet.

All in all, I want a lot of deaths today.

Thank you to;

DxCfanlover: haha, tongue war XD Take it from me, being a teen with a friend with benefits is not an easy task...Especially since one of my parents are always home and I'm always far too lazy to go over his! haha! Count yourself lucky, boyfriends are a lot more work than they are worth. I'm happy to be single for a while (: haha, that is one way to describe a book; a bad boyfriend. Definitely! And I would give you permission to kill me if I didn't know who Moaning Myrtle was! haha! Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: I have to! I need to read Beautiful Creatures so I can watch the film! Hope your books came in, should keep you quiet for a while ;) haha! Thanks :D

NoH8-make-a-rainbow: Ah...the ending...such a...ending? I don't know XD It's sad yet happy yet sad, all at the same time! Thank you :D

Love you!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	11. Chapter 11

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Eleven**

_Dear Courtney, _

_Well, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do to you, baby girl. I'm sorry that I won't be there for you. I'm sorry I won't get to see you grow up like I hoped I could have. I made a mistake, Courtney. I made a stupid, stupid mistake. I wish I had never done what I did. I think you're too young to know right now, but one day I will explain everything to you. _

_They say that I am allowed to send one letter a week and I've decided I have no one else to send my letters to. I hope you don't mind and I hope I don't hurt you by sending these letters. If it's not too much, I want you to write me back, Courtney. I know you're only young and things are very confusing for you, but I want you to know that I am still your father, I'm still your daddy and I will always be here for you. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_My big girl today. First grade, what a shock. It's a very life changing day, am I right? You're going to be making new friends and meeting new people. I know you wish you were with all your old friends from Kindergarten today, but I promise you that you have nothing to worry about. You'll fit right in, baby girl. I promise. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_I heard you lost another tooth today. That's almost all of your adult teeth now, isn't it? Wow. You really aren't my baby girl anymore, are you? No. You will _always_ be my baby girl. No matter how old you are or how big you get, my baby girl is who you always will be. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_Wow. Today is your tenth birthday. Double digits already, baby girl. You're growing up so fast. I wish I was there with you. I hope you got everything you wanted, darling. I hope you had a lovely party with all of your friends and I hope your mother spoilt you rotten like you deserve. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_I was hoping to see you today. It was Grandma's funeral and I was allowed to attend with one of the officers on the ward. I thought that your mother would have taken you to say goodbye to her. I know you only met a few times and you may not even remember her, but it would have been nice. And I would have gotten to see my baby girl again. I've been missing you extra much recently. My cell mate said it's what usually happens to people when they've been away from someone they love dearly for this long. I hope to see you soon, Courtney. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_Another move, huh? Well, baby girl, do expect a lot of it. I know you're probably used to it now, but I still feel it's my job to reassure you that it won't always be this way. I know it won't. One day you'll wake up in the same place each and every day. I promise you it will be okay in the end. _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_Today is your sixteenth birthday. You're not my baby girl anymore, are you? You're growing into a fine young woman. I wish I was there to give you your first car. I wish I was there to teach you how to drive. Maybe one day, huh, darling? _

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

_Dear Courtney, _

_Five years to the day. 1826 days and I'll be able to see you again. I wonder what you look like now. I hope you still have your perfect brown curls and my dark eyes. And I pray that you still have your little cute freckles on your nose will forever remain on your perfect little face. I only have one photo of you, Courtney...Your third birthday. You dressed up in that little pink Princess outfit. Your mother took three hours to curl your hair because it just kept falling straight again. That's the best memory I think I have of the three of us. We were a family back then, weren't we? But I guess we'll never be a family again...Almost back to you, baby girl._

_Love, Daddy._

* * *

That was the one that he sent me last. It was then 1823 days until he was going to see me. That made me feel...uncertain. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to meet him. After spending most of my life in jail, why would I want to meet him? I know he's still my father, but by the time I would see him I would be even more grown up.

I knew what I had to do next. After lying in bed and staring at my ceiling for three hours, I finally came to a conclusion; I wanted to write a letter back to him. He deserved to know something about me. He was still my father, after all, and he spent time to write me short letters each week.

_'And this, guys, is how that letter went;_

_Dear..._

_You always end your letters with 'daddy' and I guess that's what I used to call you when I was younger. Now, though, at almost seventeen years of age and no real memory of who you are, I don't feel as if daddy fits the bill. _

_Well, if you haven't guessed already, it's Courtney. I guess I should start with an apology of not answering these letters previously. There was a complication where mom decided to hide them all away from me. I found the one you sent on Saturday and, well, she handed over the rest, too. I've read through them all over the past few days and...They make me feel weird inside. I've never felt this way before and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. It does hurt to know that you were never around for me, but I now know you wanted to be...I grew up to believe that you wanted nothing to do with me, but now I know that you missed me just as much as I missed you. I would try and kid myself that I never needed you, but every girl needs a father in her life..._

_As mentioned before, I'm almost seventeen now and yes, I do look more or less the way you described me. Brunette hair-deadly straight-dark eyes and seven little freckles over the bridge of my nose. I guess I got them from you as me and mom look nothing alike. As you also know, I've just moved to Manhattan and already school is looking up. My GPA is far above average despite the constant moving of schools. I don't have many friends but I never do wherever I go. But I do have one friend. Duncan. I really like him. He's helped me through a lot since I moved here. _

_I guess you'd want to know a few personal details, but I am unsure of what to tell you. I move around a lot so I never have friends to hang out with or even a job to stay on top of. I am a complete book worm which is why my grades are so good. I complete all my homework on time and I pass most of my time babysitting Casey when mom's at work. The only one thing I have is my blog._

_But what about you? You spend all of your letters asking about me and how I am, but you hardly ever mention yourself to me. I have no idea who you are anymore. I don't know what you look like, what your personality is, how close we were when I was younger. I have no memories of you except a very hazy one of a Christmas morning one year. _

_Love, Courtney.'_

I clutched onto Duncan's hand even tighter as I pushed the white envelope into the post box a few minutes walk away from the apartment buildings. I wasn't holding his hand because there was something going on between us like so many people had suggested, it was because I needed reassurance that I was doing the right thing. Duncan had agreed to come with me for moral support and comfort. I refused to let him and mom read over my letter, but that was for personal reasons. If they wanted to read it, they could read it on my blog where I had also posted it for help. It always helped me to get my thoughts out of my head and into the world.

Duncan didn't stick around me for too long once we got back to my apartment. He was still grounded as far as I knew, so it was pretty understandable. I was unaware of how he did manage to keep sneaking out and was able to still have the use of his laptop, but I had learnt how sneaky Duncan could be when he wanted to.

The first thing I did was log onto my blog and read Duncan's update. He always read mine, but I felt as if I never read his. So, when I found out he had posted one just second before I logged on, I was quite content to read it.

_'Miss Girl On The Move conquered her fears today. And I'm very happy that I could be there with her as she did it. Prince Charming strikes again, right ,Court?'_

I smiled. I genuinely smiled. I hadn't smiled since Saturday morning before I had got the letter. Duncan had that ability, you see; he could make me smile with most of the things he said and did. He was a great friend, always there to comfort me and cheer me up when I needed it. I was very glad I met him.

A/N: Aww.

I know it was short, but shove them DxC fluffiness in there and it's all good, right? haha!

Sorry for the mini-wait between updates, though ya'll shouldn't be complaining, I haven't updated SYBF in almost a month! EEP!

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: At least you got your books in the end! But speaking of books, PLEASE HURRY UP AND READ CITY OF BONES! I'M IN DESPERATE NEED OF SOMEONE TO FANGIRL WITH! Life As We Know It is sooo funny! haha! Thank you :D

DxCfanlover: Good and reassuring? Possibly...haha, depends how you see it XD I always laugh at the box! It's totally something my own mother would do! haha! Umm...I know her name is Sharla, but I don't know if it had been mentioned yet or not...It might be the next chapter, actually XD Oh, moms...How do you read three books at the same time? I have to read one and finish it before I can start another, otherwise I get far too confused! haha! Thanks :D

Coderrafan4: WHAT? NO INTERNET? THAT'S INSANE! I tend to start crying when my internet goes out for more than a minute...I may be a slight internet addict XD hahaha! Thank you :D

I love you gals! You are awesome!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Not spellchecked.

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	12. Chapter 12

_**Girl On The Move**_

_**Chapter Twelve**_

_'Disappointment is the theme for today's blog! Oh, how you will never believe what has been happening to me since we last spoke, dear readers. My life has turned into a living hell!'_

Week after week I would continuously go get the mail every day in hope of a reply from my father. Nothing. After I sent him the letter I never got a reply. Four weeks passed by of me waiting each and every day for that letter to show up. It never did. At first I thought my mother had started hiding them away again, but I know that she didn't. I know that I just never got the weekly letters anymore because I had replied back. I blamed it all on myself.

Of course, during these agonizing weeks, mom and Matt continued to date. They were madly in love and it had only been five weeks! It was crazy watching them stuck in the honeymoon phase. I hated the honeymoon phase in relationships. Well, I had never been in one myself, but I had seen so many people going through it.

_'For anyone who doesn't know, the honeymoon phase is that time just after you first get in a relationship with someone and everything around you is picture perfect. Nothing can go wrong and you're both madly in love with each other. All you ever want to do is spend time together and eventually everyone around you gets so sick of it that they try to kill themselves every time they're around people in the honeymoon phase.' _

"Hey, baby," Matt's voice came down the phone line. Mom had to put him on speaker because she had her hands full in the kitchen. "What you up to right now?"

"Not a lot," Mom replied, her voice smitten with romance. "Just finishing the dishes and then going to start some dinner for the girls."

"Don't worry about that, darling!" Matt, no doubtedly smiling on the other end, shouted in reply. "I'm taking us all out tonight! My treat." Mom dropped a glass on the floor. Smash. Glass everywhere and I was the one who had to clean it up before Casey came stumbling barefoot out of her room.

"No! Matt, I can't let you do that!" Mom was in denial that a man could actually want to take us all out to eat at a fancy restaurant. Yes, Matt was definitely going to take us to a fancy restaurant because he wasn't exactly the sort of person who took his 'family' out to eat at McDonalds. No matter how much my little sister begged.

"No buts, Sharla Rees!" Mom smiled, "I'll be around in about an hour, be ready and dress fancy." And without even a goodbye, Matt hung up. But that did mean we had an hour to get ready. Three girls, one bathroom, one hour. Disaster only struck next.

_'I'll spare you all the details of how we each showered and then did our hair and then did our make-up and then got dressed. Because, let's face it, who wants to listen to that? All you need to know is that we managed to do it outside of our time budget, meaning Matt had to sit around for an extra fifteen minutes. But, after catching sight of mom-Or Casey, as she likes to tell the story-he knew it was worth it.' _

I stared at Matt, grabbing his hand and forcing him to stand up straight for me. He was wearing a very smart tuxedo which I couldn't work out was his or rented. I pulled at his bow tie and I straightened my hands over the chest part of the jacket. If mom had put a lot of effort into her outfit, Matt was going to put a lot of effort into his. Or at least I was going to put a lot of effort in for him.

_'I realized something as I was straightening him out; I knew very little about the man before me. His name was Matt, he was thirty-seven and he was a secretary at my mom's office. That was it. So, taking it as my opportunity, I asked him as many questions as I could.'_

"Have you ever been married?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been to jail?"

"No."

"What is your full name?"

"Is this an interrogation?"

"I'll ask the questions!"

"Matthew Timothy Rice."

"Rice?"

"That's what I said." Well, at least if he and mom ever got married that I would have the chance to keep my own surname and not be known as Courtney Rice. And it could be worse; at least there was no possibility of her marrying Kevin Bacon.

"Do you have any children?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Tell me about them." I never knew that Matt had children, but I can tell you now that Matt had the goofiest smile on his face when he talked about them. He clearly loved them very much and I think that was why he got along so well with Casey.

"I have three. Two sons and my own little girl," Matt explained. "Craig, Mitchell and Olivia. Craig and Mitchell look nothing like me, but I have always loved going outside and rough housing with both of them. They're twelve and ten years old. And Olivia," his voice got stuck in his throat for a moment, "Olivia's my little Princess. She is the spitting image of me, which I'm glad about. She's only five. I only found out my wife was pregnant with her two weeks after we filed for divorced." I could see that Matt was hurt by those words. I wondered why, but I didn't ask. Instead, I let him pull out his wallet and show me a picture of his children. Every word he said was true about them.

Naturally, my mother was beautiful in her black satin dress and curled hair. I had tried my best to squeeze into one of my old dresses, but I had grown a bit since my eighth grade graduation, so I had to make do with a skirt and flowing white top. Casey, on the other hand, also looked very gorgeous in her flower girl dress from Aunt Cathy's wedding a year previously. It was a good thing that Casey was probably going to be that size for the rest of her life (she just never grew in my eyes).

Dinner was amazing. Matt took us to the fanciest restaurant he could find and, naturally, the food was over-priced and tasted delicious. I would have paid good money to eat there and Matt did pay a _lot_ of money for us to all eat there. Mom offered to go half on the bill, or at least pay for mine and Casey's meals, but Matt refused to take any money from my mother. He insisted that this was his treat and he was not going to let her pay. In the end mom put her purse away, but she kept glancing at Matt as if she knew he was up to something.

If he was up to something, the best I could hope for was for it not to be an engagement proposal. That would have just been awkward for everyone.

"Well, ladies, the reason I have brought you out tonight is because I have some...news." I knew he hesitated on whether or not to say good. He didn't, thankfully. The three of us sat up straight, leaning in towards him slightly. "My parents have invited the three of you to dinner at their house on Friday."

_'Matt's parents had invited us to dinner at their house in two days' time. Oh, how I wish it had been an engagement proposal now._

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move'_

_Days moved too fast. _

_'Preparing to meet Matt's parents was not something I enjoyed. Mom was pretty much in hysterics from the moment she woke up on Thursday moment right up to second we reach their doorstep. She was in full panic mode of what would happen. You see, none of mom's 'boyfriends' had ever invited me and Casey to meet their parents along with mom. Though, I guess since Matt had children of his own, they wouldn't mind either of us.'_

Matt sat on the sofa, waiting for mom and Casey to finish getting ready. Mom wanted to make everything perfect this time around. Casey had to look immaculate and so did everything she did and said. Mom trusted me to be grown up in this situation, but Casey was only young.

"So, Matt..." I asked, sitting down beside him.

"So, Courtney," he replied, turning to face me. I studied his face for a moment, not sure what was going to happen. He looked quite scared himself. I guess he didn't really want us meeting his parents. We weren't his kids, why should we have met his parents? They weren't our family. With mom's track record, they weren't ever going to be either.

"When am I going to be able to meet your kids?" Okay, in my defense, I didn't really want to meet his children. Not that I had anything against meeting them, it just didn't seem very important to me. The moment that Matt proposed to mom and then they were going to become part of my family was the moment I wished to meet them. Naturally, we all knew that was never going to happen.

"Well, you may get to meet the boys today." Matt replied. Not the answer I had been hoping for. "And you'll definitely get to meet my niece, today." I could hardly contain my excitement.

"What about your daughter?" Silence. Matt turned his attention to the floor, biting down on his lip. I could see how upset he was about the subject of his daughter and I know I was wrong to push him, but I really wanted to know just in case I ever put my put in my mouth in later situations about it. And I was quite curious.

"I-It's okay-" I wanted to tell him that he didn't have to tell me if he didn't want to. I wanted to tell him that I didn't need to know and that I would shut my big mouth and never mention it again. But I couldn't.

"You'll never get to meet Olivia." His voice was forced, trembling with every word. "She died two years ago..." Olivia Rice was five years old. She was too young to die, far too young to be taken from the world. But the world is a cruel place. It took lives that didn't deserve it and gave ones that wasted it.

_'I burst into spontaneous tears at that moment, as did Matt. Am I always this stupid, guys? Do I often say thing that I don't mean and get myself into trouble because of it? Of course I do. I just can't help it.'_

"That's why me and my ex-wife don't speak on civil terms. We both blame me for what happened to her and we're both right. I was the one driving, I was the one who got distracted and I'm the one who killed her." I wrapped my arms around Matt, trying to protect him from something that had already happened. That was how strongly I felt towards him. I wanted to make him stop hurting, but I was never going to be able to do that. That was the reason why Matt got along so well with Casey, so well with me; he was missing out on all of it with his own daughter. But we weren't substitutes. No, Matt cared for us as individual people who he needed a father figure in their lives.

"Why are two crying?" My mother asked, standing in front of us now. I didn't reply, I simply jumped up and wrapped my arms around her neck. I was very lucky to have her, I realized that. My mother may have been my worst enemy at times and my best friend at others, but she was always doing what was best for me and what was best for Casey. I never gave her enough credit for doing it all on her own all of the time.

"It doesn't matter." Matt replied, taking my mother away from me and twirling her around. He obviously wasn't ready to tell her. She grabbed his face between her hands, wiping the remaining tears away with her thumbs. She cared about all of us, she really did.

"Okay." But she didn't sound convinced with our answer. At least she didn't push like I did.

_'The drive to Matt's parents was fifteen minutes and thirty four seconds long. I took the liberty of counting to settle my stomach. I was nervous for no apparent reason yesterday. And it turned out that I had a reason to be, too.'_

"UNCLE MATT!" A tiny and high-pitched voice screamed. A small girl came running towards us as we walked inside the brick-stoned house. So it turned out that Matt's parents were very rich and had a four story home on the better side of Manhattan. Who knew?

"Hey, fuss-pot," Matt smiled, scooping the little girl up into his arms. She must have only been about four with perfect brunette curls dangling down either side of her face in pigtails and wide blue eyes that lit up with excitement at the sight of her uncle.

"Ramona, this is my girlfriend Sharla and her daughters Courtney and Casey. Guys, this is my niece Ramona." I smiled at her as I was the one she was looking straight at, but she curled into a ball and hid her face into Matt's chest. She was four; we couldn't expect her not to be shy around strangers.

"Ramona!" A voice called from a far off room. Ramona struggled out of Matt's arms and fell to the floor with a thud, sprinting off through the room to the right. Matt followed and grabbed mom's hand too. I knew it was a bad idea not to go after them, so I did. Casey tagged along behind, looking very scared. She was probably frightened of getting lost in the place because it did honestly looked like they had moved into an old Ikea store. I would never have been able to find my way around if I was left to my own free will.

"Stop licking the spoon!" A friendly voice called out. I could just about make out an old man, the kindest of smiles on his face. "Some of us have to stir with that thing!"

"AH!" A boy's cried screamed. I moved past my mother to see the old man poking and prodding a boy who was sat on top of the counter, laughing as his grandfather continued to mess around. The boy was one of the ones from Matt's photograph, though I wasn't quite sure which.

"UNCLE MATT'S HERE!" Ramona cried as if she had been screaming it the whole time. The old man stopped and turned around to face us.

"Good eye there, fuss pot!" He cheered, scooping her up into his arms. Ramona giggled, kissing her grandfather on the cheek. This man did not have a bad bone in his body, and I had only just laid eyes on him.

"DAD!" The boy jumped off the counter, wrapping his arms around Matt's waist. Considering it was his son and Matt was past six foot, the boy was considerably short.

_'I shouldn't bore you with details. Basically, the young boy was Mitchell. He was the ten year old. Craig, the other one, wasn't there because he simply didn't want to be, so he had stayed at home with his mother. Ramona lived with her grandparents because...Of reasons I won't go into online. Charlie, this very kind man that just so happened to be Matt's father, was the nicest person I think I ever met. I just wish the same could be said for his wife, Barbara.'_

Barbara had frown lines and wrinkles covering every inch of her face, thought I had to hold my tongue when around her from saying so. She had a very strict look about from her expression to her clothes. She had been upstairs the whole time, obviously avoiding us. I didn't know how Charlie could stand to be married to her for so long. Forty-five years of marriage and I was wondering why.

She kept turning her nose up at my mother, which made me want to hurt her very badly. She did eye Casey up when she accidently burped at dinner. Everyone laughed and she did say 'pardon me', but Barbara didn't seem amused. And then it came to me. I wasn't sure what her thoughts were, but I had a feeling she passed me off for a typical teenager. The way her beady black eyes were constantly watching out for me to say or do something wrong made me feel like a caged animal; it was wrong.

_'Long story short, it only resulted in an argument. Barbara started a fight with my mother and, my mother being the way she is, started to argue back. She wasn't going to sit back and let this woman criticize her or me and Casey, so she had a right go at her. Matt hurried the dinner along, hough siding with my mother on the argument, and took us out of there as soon as possible. I never wanted to go back. _

_And I never will have to go back. Why? Because I'm moving again.'_

A/N: Holy cow bells!

THEY'RE MOVING AGAIN!

Know what that means?

One more chapter left :( And then the epilogue!

Wow...

I'm trying to work out if I had read Hunger Games before I wrote this, because if I did I think I subconsciously based Matt's parents of Mr and Mrs Mellark O.O I didn't realise that un til I was just going over it now XD

I hope ya'll are enjoying the drama!  
Duncan will be back next chapter XD

Thank you to;

DxCfanlover: I know, those letters were just heartbreaking! I had to add the fluffiness in to make it better! haha! You can't not smile at Duncan :D Yes, Sharla! It was only just mentioned in this chapter! I knew I mentioned it somewhere XD haha! That's insane! I could never read so many books at once, I can barely keep up with all the fanfics! Thank you :D

xXDevil Of LoveXx: Oh, hey! I know you! haha! I'm glad you enjoy my stories :D Thanks :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Oh God, Twilight...STICK TO MORTAL INSTRUMENTS! SO MUCH BETTER! Yes, TMI then Gone then...You're free of series I need you to read XD haha, awesomeness XD Thank you :D

Coderrafan4: YES! INTERNET! We have all the Duncney feels right here XD ATTACK, DUNCNEY FEELS, ATTACK XD haha! Thanks :D

I love you guys!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Not spellchecked!

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	13. Chapter 13

**Girl On The Move**

**Chapter Thirteen**

As soon as I hit publish on my laptop a loud knocking came from behind me. I didn't even flinch. I knew he would have seen it instantly. Turing to my window I saw Duncan standing there, his expression unreadable. I had locked it before we had gone out and forgot to open it for him.

I walked as slowly as my feet could carry me towards the window, instantly opening up the latch and letting Duncan climb in. He started pacing and I sank onto my bed. What could I do? Duncan was very pissed off, most likely at me. I felt like the bad guy in the situation, Duncan knew how these things ran in my life; I move to somewhere new, make friends, move somewhere else, make new friends and forget about my old ones. Sure, I had over a thousand Facebook friends and I did know every single one of them, but that didn't mean I talked to any of them. Once I had moved on, I hated looking back in the past. It only ever holds you back, forward is the best way to go.

"When were you going to tell me?" His blue eyes roared, twisted into something I never thought Duncan could conjure within him. I had seen that frustrated look in his eyes in school, they were always like that when he got into fights, when the teacher called on him in class and he didn't know the answer. I always watched his eyes almost cloud over with anger each time, never knowing that one day it would all be directed at me.

"I-I...I didn't know how!" I cried. It was the truth, the pure, honest truth. How was I supposed to tell a guy who had a massive crush on me and was the best friend I had never had before that I was moving and would soon forget about him?

Duncan slammed him fist into the wall beside my window. I jumped again and would have usually shouted at him for doing so, but I couldn't. Plus, it wasn't like I lived there anymore. I was supposed to be packing at that moment; mom was hoping to leave that night. As soon as Matt dropped us off, she had made sure he didn't come in. She claimed to want to be alone, but it was only so we could have a mad rush at packing. Of course she didn't tell Matt we were moving.

"How could you do this, Courtney?"

"Me?" I questioned, trying sound as though I wasn't upset, but I was. Inside I was tearing apart and it hurt every part of me like mad. "Im not the one who decided to pack up and move again! Don't go pointing the finger at me, Duncan! Do you think I enjoy having to leave everything behind-" I never did finish my sentence. Duncan had grabbed onto my arms and pulled me into him. Mid-sentence, his lips fell into mine. I wanted to push him away; I wanted to tell him how wrong it was of him to do such a thing. But I couldn't. I wanted to stay there. I wanted to kiss Duncan as much as he wanted to kiss me. But it was wrong. Guilt was starting to eat at me, even more so as I sunk into his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck. Why was I doing it to the two of us? We were both only going to get hurt in the end.

The way Duncan held me in his arms, the way he held me so close to him, I just never wanted to let go. I sobbed into his shirt, unable to hold back my tears as they pushed back the anger. I wasn't angry at all. Well, at least not at Duncan. All he wanted to do was hold me, protect me. So I let him.

It took an hour to convince Duncan that he should go home and leave me to pack alone. He wanted to help, wanted to spend every last moment he could with me. But I was hurting too much just by looking at him. It hurt that I was probably never going to see him again after tonight.

"Courtney!" My mother pushed open my bedroom door with her back, her hands carrying a few dozen cardboard boxes. "Here, honey, just in case you need anymore." I refused to look at her; I refused to acknowledge her at all. So she simply dropped the boxes on the floor and left. She knew there was no point in apologizing to me, I was mad at her. All she seemed to do was make me mad the entire time we had been in Manhattan. Which, I guess did balance out since Matt was the best boyfriend my mother had also ever had.

Matt...

Poor, poor, Matt. He didn't know what hit him. It was the same routine every time, so I was used to it. But he wasn't. I knew that my mother never said her final goodbyes to every boyfriend. It was almost like she was cheating on them each time because she never broke up with any of them. I had to try and not think of the pain that every man she hurt went through. Sure, they weren't very interested in me or Casey, but my mother had a way with men that made their hearts beat like never before. They would swoon over her good looks and charming personality, but she would never return the favor. One false move and she grew cold, locking the door that brought them into her life.

Matt was the only boyfriend of hers that I liked enough of hers to not want to see hurt. All the other scumbags no doubtedly deserved it. Matt, however, had done nothing wrong. It was his mother who had done the bad thing; it had been Casey and Mitchell who had smashed that vase and hidden all the broken parts under the carpet. The pain that Matt was going to go through when my he never heard from my mother again as going to tear him apart.

I was starting to feel as if I knew Matt a lot better than what I did. But I knew enough to know that his heart wasn't going to be able to take much more. After getting a divorce, losing his daughter. He had two young sons, one of which didn't even want to speak with him. It must have hurt. If I had been in his position in life, I wouldn't have been able to leave the comfort of my bed, the protection of my blanket. But Matt did. Matt go with his life, his heavy baggage towing behind him the whole time, but he carried it all with what seemed to be ease. I felt for him. I really, really felt for him.

I sighed as I took one last look around the empty room. It looked so bare to what it had looked like only hours before. There was no longer any furniture, not even any cardboard boxes left now. The walls were still cream and the carpet looked brand new, still. I should have been used to the scene by now, but I wasn't. The pain and the flooded memories, it all came washing over me as I parted the bedroom goodbye for the final time.

As soon as we had entered the apartment building, mom had whipped out her phone and dialed the moving van company who knew us very well by now. They had arrived in about two hours and packed everything up in another one. They knew the drill as well as me and Casey by that point. I wished they had been slower, a lot slower. But they weren't. The agonizing pain came far too quickly to me and I felt like I was going collapse on the spot. I never wanted to move, but what could I do to stop my mother? Nothing. When her mind was made up, her mind was made up.

"Courtney, come on!" My mother called to me. I took in a deep breath, preparing myself for the next big 'adventure' I was about to start on. I switched off the light and calmly left my bedroom. The whole apartment looked bare to me as I was so used to seeing it so full of furniture and life, it was almost like a place I had never visited before.

I had been so sure that this time we were going to stay put, but I should have known better. My mom was never going to settle down; she pushed people away too quickly. That was all she ever did; push people away.

My mind wandered to Matt, to Duncan...Duncan's reaction was bad enough, what would Matt be like when he found out? Kill himself? I couldn't think like that. I couldn't think of Matt. I couldn't think of Duncan. It tore me in two as it was, I didn't want to think about anymore heartbreak than what I was already suffering from.

I sighed once again, flicking the switch and turning off the main lights. It was all darkness inside the apartment, just like there was darkness in my heart. I shut the door too hard, shaking the walls all along the corridor. I sniffled, not really caring about my neighbors at that moment. I simply turned my key in the lock and prepared myself to drop it off at the main desk in the lobby.

But before I could think of that, a familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I had never once cried because we were moving before. I had never really cared too much before. But there is a first time for everything. My eyes closed and I started sobbing, leaning backwards into Duncan's chest. He planted soothing kisses along the crown of my head pushing his lips into my hair. It only made me cry harder, turning around to hug him. I will forever remember the feeling I was overwhelmed with at that moment. If I ever wanted to stay in one place that I had ever lived, Manhattan was definitely the place I would choose without a hesitation. I wanted to be able to stay in Duncan's arms for the rest of my life, but I was never going to be able to. There was no way I would ever get to stay with Duncan because my mother was moving us over a thousand miles away. But I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay locked in that moment with Duncan forever. I thought back to an old book I had once read, _'I wish I could freeze this moment and live in it forever.'_ I had never understood how someone could want to live in one moment forever before, but Duncan made me realise how that felt. No matter what I said about us only being friends, I was wrong. I loved him and he loved me. My first love and it ended in heartbreak. But it wasn't my fault. It wasn't his fault. It was my mother's fault for thinking her own heart was broken. It wasn't. Her heart hardly ever got broken. She was the heartbreaker.

"Courtney," I could hear Casey calling me from down the corridor. She was supposed to be waiting in the car with mom as I locked up the apartment. "Mom wants to know what's taking so long." I broke apart from Duncan, wiping her eyes and calling back to my sister that I wouldn't be long.

Duncan ran a soft hand through my tangled hair. I hadn't had time to do a lot with myself, only pack my room at a fast pace and help my sister with her own packing. There was no time for me to make myself look presentable. I was still wearing the skirt and top I had worn to meet Matt's parents in.

"I'm going to miss you," I whispered and Duncan nodded his head in agreement. The past few months had been amazing for both of us. I know that neither of us had ever had a friendship, a relationship that was as close as the one we had developed. And, no matter who lived in the apartment, who took over my bedroom, no one was ever going to fill the void in Duncan's soul. And, no matter where I moved to, whoever I met, no one was ever going to fill the hole in my heart.

"We'll see each other again. We'll keep in contact, I promise." But I couldn't make the same promise. I didn't make promises because they always broke. I found that out at an early age and vowed to never hurt someone the way I always ended up getting hurt.

I opened my mouth to say my final goodbye, but Duncan placed his finger over my lips. I could taste his loneliness, his aching and pain as clear as I could feel it all within myself.

"Don't say it..." He told me, eyes pleading to not hear the words. "This isn't goodbye, Courtney." Tears welled in my eyes and no matter how hard I tried to push them back, they simply kept falling down my face like a river with no dam to be placed. I got on my tip-toes, gently pressing our lips together. I knew it was going to be my last chance to kiss him and this time I wanted to kiss him on my terms. It ended far too quickly and we both wanted more, but more intimacy would have only brought more heartache. Our souls were already far too intertwined to not hurt when they split in two. I could almost feel it in my chest as I climbed into the passenger seat of my mother's car; we truly were going our separate ways.

"Where to this time?" I asked, leaning my head against the cold window and watching the mad Manhattan traffic whirl around outside. It was a distant place to where I was at that moment. The dark part of my mind was starting to take over and I was beginning to curse my life.

"Eden Prairie, Maine." We'd been to Maine before, I was sure of it. I couldn't remember my list off the top of my head, but I was sure Maine popped up somewhere in there. Maybe only once, we hardly ever did travel north. My mom usually travelled between East and West every other move. Of course, we had been North, South and middle country, too. I preferred it in the South. I was a country girl through and through, even if the bus city life of Manhattan would forever hold a place in my heart.

The long car journeys were always agonizing. I always tried to do something, anything to get my mind off where we had just left. Leaving Manhattan was always the hardest place to leave. We never went back after that. We never even travelled to New York after that. I knew mom felt that it held too many memories for us both. We continued to move around. I moved with my mother and Casey for two years before I finally got my High school graduation in a town where I had not grown up in, with people I barely knew. At the age of eighteen, I gave up. I moved into my own college dorm room at Harvard Law School where I spent four solid years. Of course, I did travel to be home for the holidays- always a different place each time. But I was so happy to have some sort of constant in my life. Poor Casey had to wait seven more years after I moved out before she could do the same. But if I had toughed it out all my life, she could do it too.

I should probably tie up loose ends now. I never did hear from my father again. I have no idea why not, but he simply never wrote. I used to make up excuses for him ranging from he was banned from outside communications to he got into a fight and died from taking a fork in both eyes. It seemed absurd and unrealistic, but who knew what went on inside prisons?

As for Matt, I never heard from him again. Mom changed her phone number, as usual. He didn't know what it was and I never heard from him again, simple as that. A whole two months' worth of dating down the drain, right? Not in my mother's eyes. She still believes Mr. Right is out there somewhere. I think she looked past him when we moved away from Manhattan. She doesn't understand that no relationship is going to be perfect; there will always be bumps in the road. She thinks Mr. Right with be flaw free. I know better.

And now the big question; whatever happened to Duncan? Well, that's a private matter. Yes, we kept in contact for a while. But things fizzled out between us in the end. Though, I know that's not what everyone was expecting, but it did happen. This is reality, not some work of fiction. And I even forgot about him for a while. That was until I reached my College Graduation and saw that my mother and sister weren't alone in the crowd. I had almost had a panic attack at the very thought of him sitting there with them, but it was more of a relief.

He looked different than what he had six years before. No longer with bright green hair and without all the facial piercings and punk-like clothing. Duncan looked normal for the first time we had ever met. I would have over-looked him if it wasn't for the eyes. His perfect blue eyes, the color that no one else in the universe could ever have. They never changed.

And now, three more years down the line, I guess I should be very happy to call myself Mrs. Courtney Evans.

_Peace and Love, Girl On The Move. _

**A/N: Just ignore me, dying in the corner over here...**

**This ending always kills me. **

**Just an epilogue to go now. **

**EEEP!**

**Should have it up in the next few days :D **

**May post it on my birthday...That'd be heart breaking, right? Maybe I'll post it on my birthday as a sign of badly I'm hurting that I didn't get Clockwork Princess...**

**Sorry, I'm ranting about myself!**

**Oh yeah, AN has been bolded as a request :D**

**And bonus point to everyone who knows where Courtney got that book quote from ;) **

**Thank you to;**

**DxCfanlover: GO SHARLA! haha! Yup...They are moving...hahaha! The music knows yours feelings XD hahaha! I think hosts are lame anyway, you have real potential ;) Thank you :D**

**ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: I don't even have a reply to this...HURRY UP AND FINISH CITY OF BONES! Thanks :D**

**Coderrafan4: YES! DUNCNEY FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER XD Thank you :D**

**NutsandVolts: There just aren't enough Duncney fics in the world XD haha! Oh yeah, sure thing :D And I love your username, by the way! Thanks :D**

**StylishFashionista: And they moved...haha! YES! THEY SHOULD JUST RUN AWAY AND ELOPE! XD Oh my goodness! I cannot wait for season 5! I want the old cast back! Thank you :D**

**You guys are the best! **

**I love you all!**

**Thanks for reading, please review (:**

**Love, ChloeRhiannonX**


	14. Epilogue

**Girl On The Move**

**Epilogue**

"He looked different than what he had six years before. No longer with bright green hair and without all the facial piercings and punk-like clothing. Duncan looked normal for the first time we had ever met. I would have over-looked him if it wasn't for the eyes. His perfect blue eyes, the color that no one else in the universe could ever have. They never changed." The young woman was sat on a red plush chair; the studio audience didn't make a sound as they listened intently to her reading from the book. "And now, three more years down the line, I guess I should be very happy to call myself Mrs. Courtney Evans. _Peace and Love, Girl On The Move._"

The audience burst into a round of applause and the smile on the brunette's face lit up as she shut the book in her hand. She watched everyone else faces; some were smiling, some were wiping away tears of joy and sadness. A lot were inspired by the tale she had just recounted for them. It had been a long journey, but she had made it.

"Courtney Evans, ladies and gentlemen." The host who had previously been sat in her own chair was now giving a standing ovation and gestured to Courtney with both hands. Courtney's smile was radiant as she blushed and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. "Courtney-Wow." The woman was gob-smacked, taking a seat, not knowing what to say after listening to Courtney tell her story. "What made you want to write your life out in a book?"

"Well," Courtney bit her lip, crossing one leg over the other and trying to relax. "I realized that the life I had always lived wasn't quite considered normal to people who may never have even moved out of the house they live in now. I was accustomed to just picking it up, moving city to city without any case of warning." Courtney wasn't saddened by the memory anymore; she knew everything had turned out for the best. "I wanted to express to people what that is actually like. I know there are a few books and movies and such out there about it, and I do find them really interesting, but none of them are from the perspective of someone who has actually been in that situation themselves. I know exactly what it feels like to have to leave everything you thought was permanent behind."

The host nodded her head, understanding what Courtney was trying to say. No one really did know what it was like to be in a situation unless you were actually in it. Courtney thought the story of her life was worth sharing and the autobiography was currently #1 on the New York's Best Sellers list.

"You clearly had a lot of different experiences growing up, so why did you choose your life in Manhattan?"

"I decided to go for Manhattan because I felt as if that was the place I was most connected to. Every time I moved it was the same routine; pack up, drive to the new place, unpack, live for a few weeks, mom gets dumped and it starts again. In Manhattan, as you see from reading the book, things weren't quite as simple as they had always been. I became emotionally connected to that apartment and that part of my life because of, well, everything." Courtney gave a shy smile. "I learnt to not get used to a place for too long because it only hurts when you get torn away, but a part of me will forever live in that Manhattan apartment."

"Not just a certain teenage punk, then?" The woman's lips stretched into a smirk, teasing Courtney's vision and mind as the brunette started to blush slightly again. She wasn't quite used to having all eyes on her.

"I guess he had a role to play..." Courtney pushed back the smile like a silly school girl with a crush. "But so did everyone who was there and everything that happened. And, no matter how badly it hurt, I would go back and relive those few months over again without changing a thing."

The host nodded, deep in thought as the audience gave a small applause.

Everything that happened to people in life does happen for a reason. Regretting something you did or something that happened will only ruin you. If that part was taken out of your history, you may not be the person you are today. Courtney felt that way about herself. If her mother hadn't been such a heartbreaker with men, Courtney herself may never have found the love of her life. All of the moving around that was done may have been a pain to live with, but it worked out to be the best thing about her life.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for Courtney Evans, please." The audience burst into a standing ovation for the wonderful young woman before them. Courtney got to her feet and hugged the woman who hosted the show, waving to the audience as she left the stage.

Sneaking out the back door of the studio, Courtney couldn't help but smile. How had her once terrible life come to this? A very successful lawyer, a bestselling book and an amazing-

"There's my best-seller of a wife." Courtney smiled as she felt Duncan's arms wrap around her waist from behind. It had only been an hour, but she felt as though yet another life time had passed since they had been locked in each other's arms. After not seeing him for six years straight, Courtney felt as if her world was ending every time they weren't together. Sure, they lived together and got enough comfort from just that, but the hours when Courtney couldn't hold her husband in her arms felt heart aching to her. It reminded her that there was once a time in her life where she couldn't hold him every night or see him every day, and she scared things would always go back to that.

The brunette turned to look at Duncan, cupping his cheeks in her hands. Duncan had changed a lot. His hair was no longer bright green; it was back to its natural black and didn't stick up on top of his head any more either. His dress sense was a lot better; jeans and sports jacket. No more skulls and crosses. His personality hadn't changed, but Courtney would have loved Duncan any way he came.

Staring deeply into his perfect blue eyes, they were both smiling at each other. Duncan gave his beautiful wife a peck on the lips, grabbing onto her hand with his and starting to walk towards their car. Home is where the heart is. And they were both most certainly home.

A/N: Aww

How was that, guys?  
Do ya'll approve?

This is it. This is the end.

Quick happy birthday to me!  
I did say I would post this on my birthday, but my birthday was yesterday! I had Clockwork Princess and refused to stop reading it (even through all the tears).

So I got it up today instead :D

Wow. It has been a crazy road to get here today.

It has taken me 17 weeks and 6 days to complete this story. Which is utterly ridiculous if you ask me, but still. I got there in the end (:

I really hope all of you have enjoyed reading this story, or even rereading if you read the original version. I definitely enjoyed editing my work; this story will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Thank you to;

EmmaFrostFlower

NoH8-make-a-rainbow

Kutiekat44

Guest

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm

Monika

Coderrafan4

ChibiMoonCakes

Fairytale Love and Chocolate

anime pirate 13

DxCfanlover

LuluKaty

xXDevil Of LoveXx

NutsandVolts

StylishFashionista

The sixteen of you have made these past few months amazing for me. I love you all.

Thanks for reading, please, for one final time, review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


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